Faithful Friendship

Paper Summary:

This paper to explores the views of different authors and philosophers and discusses their view on the malleability of friendship. It looks at how people seek a faithful friendship, feeling betrayed when it is withdrawn and guilty when they themselves turn away from former friends. It shows how Gilbert Meilaender believes friendship must be subject to change because it is based on preferences and reciprocal caring and how Aristotle indicated that there were three different types of friendship, only one of which is actually likely to last for any considerable period of time. It also looks at the opinions of Lawrence Thomas and the principles of Confucian friendship.

From the Paper:

"However, a third type of friendship Aristotle thought could be more long-lasting, although still subject to change. This was the type of friendship in which individuals were friends because they "were good, and alike in excellence" (p. 3) and they wished well to each other for the friends' sake, rather than for their own. This kind of friendship is more rare and it requires time and familiarity in order to qualify - it stands the test of time, as we would put it. Aristotle noted that just the desire for friendship was not sufficient, nor was lovability, or pleasure, or other qualities. Instead, the two individuals must be of similar characters, must spend time getting to know each other and testing each other's loyalty, and must be equally interested and willing to involve themselves in the friendship."

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