Friendship and the Comparison of Goods

Abstract

My concern in this paper is with the last sentence of VIII.1 of Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics (EN). The correct understanding of that sentence has, I believe, significant philosophical implications. But I want to approach the philosophical issues cautiously, through a somewhat narrow textual question, viz. Was the sentence written by Aristotle? My contention is that it was, and, in order to establish this, I will first argue, negatively, that the linguistic arguments to the contrary have little force, and then positively, that the sentence does refer to an earlier passage in EN, namely, book I chapter 6. If this thesis is correct, then the argument of book I, and especially the opening of 1.7, appears in a new light; furthermore, we are then provided with the key to understanding the nature of Aristotle's classification of friendship into three kinds. Chapter 1 of book VIII of EN serves as an introduction to Aristotle's discussion of friendship. The first half of the chapter provides a series of reasons why friendship ought to be discussed in a treatise on ethics (1 155al31); the second half briefly reviews some of the opinions of some of Aristotle's predecessors on the subject (1155a32-bl6). This brief review generates some difficulties about friendship, and, as is common in Aristotle, the ensuing discussion is motivated by these difficulties. The chapter closes with parenthetical remarks of a logical character. I translate the end of the chapter, together with the opening sentence of chapter two: