Friendship: A moral virtue

Abstract

In my paper, I would like to compose a comparative analysis between Aristotle and Immanuel Kant's notion of friendship as a moral virtue. Among the virtues discussed by Aristotle, friendship is one of the most important virtues. It is a relationship between two men who have affection for each other and who recognize each other's affection. There are different kinds of friendships - one is based on utility, the other two are either based on pleasant company or based on mutual respect. With emphasis on universal law and duty for duty's sake, Kant gives less importance on friendship as a special relationship. Although both Kant and Aristotle highlight the mutual knowing involved in friendship as a virtue of the highest form of friendship, Kant's emphasis lies not on knowing another person but on being known by another person, since it is in being known by another person that we become connected to someone else. In contrast, Aristotle's interest lies in knowing another person rather than in being known by another person, since it only through knows another person that we can come to know ourselves.