Aristotle on Philia

Abstract

Aristotle devotes two books of the Nicomachean Ethics—one fifth of the whole work—to the topic of philia, but the relation between these treatments and the rest of the work is unclear. My thesis shows the importance of philia in the wider context of the Nicomachean Ethics. Friends of equal virtue provide the virtuous with worthy comrades: together they can find opportunities for courage and magnificence which they would be incapable of alone. Together, friends can contemplate better. In philia the sphere of what is one’s own becomes enlarged: instead of ‘I’ and ‘you’, we become ‘we’. This movement to a more universal perspective makes our contemplation more like God’s divine contemplation of the whole cosmos. Finally, civic friendship provides a surer bond among citizens than justice, providing the surest foundation for the polis, and through civic friendship, all citizens participate in the good life.