On Aristotle’s Philosophy Of Friendship

Friendship is an important topic in the Western philosophy. Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Epicurus, Cicero, Augustine, Derrida, etc, are all have studied it at different degrees. In the pedigree of Western classical thought history, friendship has a strong political overtone. Friendship in classical thought is the important ideological source of the modern western political system. At the ages of Christian, friendship has enlarged the relationship from“man to man”to "man and God". However, there is not so much study of fraternity in modern political philosophy. But, the topic of fraternity will not be abandoned; it is always run through our lives. Throughout ancient and modern, Aristotle’study for friendship is the most profound and detailed, which has far-reaching impact on the later philosophers and even the modern social life.Regarding friendship issue, Aristotle illustrates profoundly and detailed in his book "Nicomachean Ethics". This text is based on Aristotle’s masterpiece "Nicomachean Ethics", which discusses the thought of love for the most part. Aristotle’s thought of love is on the basis of the ancient Greece’s fraternity concept, which subjects to generational effect, and more affected by Plato, inherits and develops the ancient Greece’s philosophical thought of love. Aristotle elaborated on the fraternity specifically, clarify the thought of love from different angles, such as happy love, practical love, kind love and so on. Comparing thought of love to self-love, justice, happiness and several other main ideas, Aristotle Further illustrates the deep intension of fraternity.The critical point of this text lies in analyzing the value of Aristotle’s friendship, finding out his thought of love from "Nicholas Mark Ethics". Through the analysis of Aristotle’s thought of love and his effects on the younger philosopher’s fraternity thought, improving human’s understanding of fraternity from historical perspective and realistic perspective, and further promoting the harmonious development of interpersonal relationships.