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Friendship in Aristotle’s Ethics and Augustine’s Confessions – Outline
Thesis Statement: An examination of the depth of the influence of friendship in the proper
functioning of the human nature towards the maintenance of a virtuous life and avoidance of
vices that misdirect our love for others is an imperative in the context of the thought of Aristotle
and Augustine.
I.
II.
Introduction
The Different Manifestations of Friendship in Augustine’s Confession
III.
Interpretation, Differences, and Similarities between Augustine and Aristotle
IV.
Augustine’s Understanding of Friendship and Importance of Relationship with God
V.
Conclusion
Running head: FRIENDSHIP ACCORDING TO ARISTOTLE AND AUGUSTINE
Friendship in Aristotle’s Ethics and Augustine’s Confessions
Name
Institution
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FRIENDSHIP ACCORDING TO ARISTOTLE AND AUGUSTINE
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Friendship in Aristotle’s Ethics and Augustine’s Confessions
Introduction
The common philosophical definition of friendship is the display of affections by humans
for one another through an agreement of kindliness and divine love. Friendship is a concept that
plays a prominent role in the lives of people and an important tool for the development of their
virtues. It is with this notion that two of the greatest thinkers of our time Augustine and Aristotle
expressed their thoughts on friendship and how it influences the formation of ethics and the
relationship with God. While most people consider friendship as essential for living a virtuous
life, evidence from the manifestation of friendship in the Confessions by Augustine showed that
it is a hindrance to virtue due to its capacity to destroy the rational structure for thinking,
misappropriate the love for others, and foster vices. Therefore, an examination of the depth of the
influence of friendship in the proper functioning of the human nature towards the maintenance of
a virtuous life and avoidance of vices that misdirect our love for others is an imperative in the
context of the thought of Aristotle and Augustine.
The Different Manifestations of Friendship in Augustine’s Confession
Augustine’s perception of the conception of friendship was depicted in the confessions
through a series of themes that directed to the central point that it is impracticable for humans to
maintain their love for God with those for their neighbors. In this context, the philosopher used
the factors responsible for the development of his friendship with others to illustrate this central
theme. First, he considered friendship as an instrument for fostering pride in people thereby
impeding their practical reasoning, especially the structures that guide the establishment of the
link between self-love and love of God. Augustine claimed that earthly friendship is based on
FRIENDSHIP ACCORDING TO ARISTOTLE AND AUGUSTINE
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lusts as it is connected to the distractions from the light of God as the theft of the pear
represented in the second book. Although the decision of a young person to steal a pear was
considered a misdemeanor, he used his reflection on the incident to raise critical questions about
the origin of evil and sins, as well as the role of friendship in the occurrence of both vices. For
example, he argued that the commission of the sinful act was due to the inscrutable seduction of
the friendship that made him loved the theft thereby making it possible for the occurrence of
other spontaneous evil acts for friendly activities (Augustine, 1943). Also, the philosopher
supported this assertion that he had a greater capacity to avoid the theft if he had no friend.
A second manifestation of how friendship is a deterrence to living a virtuous life is its
influence on the restriction of how freedom to thinking rationally and respond to the practicality
of sinful acts. According to Augustine (1943), the human nature consists of the sense of pride
and shame that strengthened by the desire to be astray by the desire for the approval of our
friends since their acceptance means a great deal to us. For example, the compliments from our
friends about the beauty of our actions are considered in Augustine’s perspective as a source of
increasing our pride regardless of the ills of the action or unethical nature. In spite of the close
friendship that Augustine had with his dead friend that he mentioned in book four, an
examination of the reasons for the grief that the philosopher suffered, as a result, was selfish and
not due to the affection or kindliness he had for him. An instance of this perspective is the
passage in confessions where the thinker argued that the perception of a friend as possession is
responsible for our grief-stricken status when we lose them to death or discontinue the
relationship while alive.
FRIENDSHIP ACCORDING TO ARISTOTLE AND AUGUSTINE
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Interpretation, Differences, and Similarities between Augustine and Aristotle
When a comparing the perspective the similarities and differences of Aristotle and
Augustine’s perspective on friendship, it is important to state the viewpoint of the former as a
premise to understand those of the latter. According to Ackrill & Urmson (1998), friendship is a
conception that is most necessary for life since it involves virtue. In this regard, the concept is an
essential constituent of virtue, an instrument used for its attainment, and important aspect of
human relations. One of the similarities betwe...