Philia: the biological foundations of Aristotle\u2019s ethics

Jorge Torres

doi:10.1007/s40656-021-00469-5

Abstract

This article is the first one to offer an investigation, from a biological perspective, of “natural philia” or “kin-based” philia (commonly translated as “friendship”) in Aristotle’s practical philosophy. After some preliminary considerations about its place in Aristotle’s ethical treatises, the discussion focuses on Aristotle’s biology. Here we learn that natural philia, couched in terms of a biological praxis rather than a trait of character, is widespread in the animal kingdom, although in different ways and to varying degrees. To account for such differences, Aristotle establishes a Scala Philiae in two different biological texts—Historia Animalium and Generation of Animals—where natural bonds in animals are classified in view of their strength and duration. Each level of Aristotle’s Scala is examined. Finally, the argument returns to Aristotle’s ethical and political texts, drawing greater attention to the biological mechanisms that underlie natural philia in human beings. I conclude that natural philia provides one fundamental biological building-block of Aristotle’s ethics and politics.

Highlights

Even though Aristotle’s account of friendship occupies a fifth of the Nicomachean Ethics (VIII-IX), the fact remains that until recently it was widely neglected by scholars
2 Philia and natural philia in Aristotle’s ethics In Book VIII of the Nicomachean Ethics (NE), Aristotle turns to the discussion of philia, commonly translated as “friendship”
As often pointed out by scholars, Aristotle’s approach to natural philia is not easy to reconcile with the overall classification of philia that we find in his ethical works—which may partly explain why it has been largely ignored by interpreters

Summary

Introduction

Even though Aristotle’s account of friendship occupies a fifth of the Nicomachean Ethics (VIII-IX), the fact remains that until recently it was widely neglected by scholars. The present investigation seeks to fill precisely this gap in Aristotle scholarship, while arguing for a more substantive thesis: that philia, commonly translated, not without difficulties, as “friendship”, constitutes a prominent biological buildingblock in Aristotle’s moral philosophy.3 It is not philia understood as a trait of character (êthos) that plays such a foundational role in Aristotelian ethics but rather as a specific biological activity (praxis)—a key distinction that has yet to be explained. I conclude with some brief remarks on the implications that Aristotle’s analysis of natural philia carries for his theory of moral development

Philia and natural philia in Aristotle’s ethics

Natural philia in Aristotle’s biology

Natural philia in human beings