下载辰思小说免费APP
14
(G)Withregardtothebodilypleasures，thosewhosaythatsomepleasuresareverymuchtobechosen，viz。thenoblepleasures，butnotthebodilypleasures，i。e。thosewithwhichtheself-indulgentmanisconcerned，mustconsiderwhy，then，thecontrarypainsarebad。Forthecontraryofbadisgood。Arethenecessarypleasuresgoodinthesenseinwhicheventhatwhichisnotbadisgood？Oraretheygooduptoapoint？Isitthatwhereyouhavestatesandprocessesofwhichtherecannotbetoomuch，therecannotbetoomuchofthecorrespondingpleasure，andthatwheretherecanbetoomuchoftheonetherecanbetoomuchoftheotheralso？Nowtherecanbetoomuchofbodilygoods，andthebadmanisbadbyvirtueofpursuingtheexcess，notbyvirtueofpursuingthenecessarypleasures(forallmenenjoyinsomewayorotherbothdaintyfoodsandwinesandsexualintercourse，butnotallmendosoastheyought)。Thecontraryisthecasewithpain；forhedoesnotavoidtheexcessofit，heavoidsitaltogether；andthisispeculiartohim，forthealternativetoexcessofpleasureisnotpain，excepttothemanwhopursuesthisexcess。
Sinceweshouldstatenotonlythetruth，butalsothecauseoferror-forthiscontributestowardsproducingconviction，sincewhenareasonableexplanationisgivenofwhythefalseviewappearstrue，thistendstoproducebeliefinthetrueview-thereforewemuststatewhythebodilypleasuresappearthemoreworthyofchoice。(a)Firstly，then，itisbecausetheyexpelpain；owingtotheexcessesofpainthatmenexperience，theypursueexcessiveandingeneralbodilypleasureasbeingacureforthepain。Nowcurativeagenciesproduceintensefeeling-whichisthereasonwhytheyarepursued-becausetheyshowupagainstthecontrarypain。(Indeedpleasureisthoughtnottobegoodforthesetworeasons，ashasbeensaid，viz。that(a)someofthemareactivitiesbelongingtoabadnature-eithercongenital，asinthecaseofabrute，orduetohabit，i。e。thoseofbadmen；while(b)othersaremeanttocureadefectivenature，anditisbettertobeinahealthystatethantobegettingintoit，buttheseariseduringtheprocessofbeingmadeperfectandarethereforeonlyincidentallygood。)(b)Further，theyarepursuedbecauseoftheirviolencebythosewhocannotenjoyotherpleasures。(Atalleventstheygooutoftheirwaytomanufacturethirstssomehowforthemselves。Whentheseareharmless，thepracticeisirreproachable；whentheyarehurtful，itisbad。)Fortheyhavenothingelsetoenjoy，and，besides，aneutralstateispainfultomanypeoplebecauseoftheirnature。Fortheanimalnatureisalwaysintravail，asthestudentsofnaturalsciencealsotestify，sayingthatsightandhearingarepainful；butwehavebecomeusedtothis，astheymaintain。Similarly，while，inyouth，peopleare，owingtothegrowththatisgoingon，inasituationlikethatofdrunkenmen，andyouthispleasant，ontheotherhandpeopleofexcitablenaturealwaysneedrelief；foreventheirbodyiseverintormentowingtoitsspecialcomposition，andtheyarealwaysundertheinfluenceofviolentdesire；butpainisdrivenoutbothbythecontrarypleasure，andbyanychancepleasureifitbestrong；andforthesereasonstheybecomeself-indulgentandbad。Butthepleasuresthatdonotinvolvepainsdonotadmitofexcess；andtheseareamongthethingspleasantbynatureandnotincidentally。BythingspleasantincidentallyImeanthosethatactascures(forbecauseasaresultpeoplearecured，throughsomeactionofthepartthatremainshealthy，forthisreasontheprocessisthoughtpleasant)；
bythingsnaturallypleasantImeanthosethatstimulatetheactionofthehealthynature。
Thereisnoonethingthatisalwayspleasant，becauseournatureisnotsimplebutthereisanotherelementinusaswell，inasmuchasweareperishablecreatures，sothatiftheoneelementdoessomething，thisisunnaturaltotheothernature，andwhenthetwoelementsareevenlybalanced，whatisdoneseemsneitherpainfulnorpleasant；forifthenatureofanythingweresimple，thesameactionwouldalwaysbemostpleasanttoit。ThisiswhyGodalwaysenjoysasingleandsimplepleasure；forthereisnotonlyanactivityofmovementbutanactivityofimmobility，andpleasureisfoundmoreinrestthaninmovement。But\'changeinallthingsissweet\'，asthepoetsays，becauseofsomevice；forasitistheviciousmanthatischangeable，sothenaturethatneedschangeisvicious；foritisnotsimplenorgood。
Wehavenowdiscussedcontinenceandincontinence，andpleasureandpain，bothwhateachisandinwhatsensesomeofthemaregoodandothersbad；itremainstospeakoffriendship。
BOOKVIII
1
AFTERwhatwehavesaid，adiscussionoffriendshipwouldnaturallyfollow，sinceitisavirtueorimpliesvirtue，andisbesidesmostnecessarywithaviewtoliving。Forwithoutfriendsnoonewouldchoosetolive，thoughhehadallothergoods；evenrichmenandthoseinpossessionofofficeandofdominatingpowerarethoughttoneedfriendsmostofall；forwhatistheuseofsuchprosperitywithouttheopportunityofbeneficence，whichisexercisedchieflyandinitsmostlaudableformtowardsfriends？Orhowcanprosperitybeguardedandpreservedwithoutfriends？Thegreateritis，themoreexposedisittorisk。Andinpovertyandinothermisfortunesmenthinkfriendsaretheonlyrefuge。Ithelpstheyoung，too，tokeepfromerror；itaidsolderpeoplebyministeringtotheirneedsandsupplementingtheactivitiesthatarefailingfromweakness；thoseintheprimeoflifeitstimulatestonobleactions-\'twogoingtogether\'-forwithfriendsmenaremoreablebothtothinkandtoact。Again，parentseemsbynaturetofeelitforoffspringandoffspringforparent，notonlyamongmenbutamongbirdsandamongmostanimals；itisfeltmutuallybymembersofthesamerace，andespeciallybymen，whencewepraiseloversoftheirfellowmen。Wemayeveninourtravelshownearanddeareverymanistoeveryother。Friendshipseemstootoholdstatestogether，andlawgiverstocaremoreforitthanforjustice；forunanimityseemstobesomethinglikefriendship，andthistheyaimatmostofall，andexpelfactionastheirworstenemy；andwhenmenarefriendstheyhavenoneedofjustice，whilewhentheyarejusttheyneedfriendshipaswell，andthetruestformofjusticeisthoughttobeafriendlyquality。
Butitisnotonlynecessarybutalsonoble；forwepraisethosewholovetheirfriends，anditisthoughttobeafinethingtohavemanyfriends；andagainwethinkitisthesamepeoplethataregoodmenandarefriends。
Notafewthingsaboutfriendshiparemattersofdebate。Somedefineitasakindoflikenessandsaylikepeoplearefriends，whencecomethesayings\'liketolike\'，\'birdsofafeatherflocktogether\'，andsoon；othersonthecontrarysay\'twoofatradeneveragree\'。Onthisveryquestiontheyinquirefordeeperandmorephysicalcauses，Euripidessayingthat\'parchedearthlovestherain，andstatelyheavenwhenfilledwithrainlovestofalltoearth\'，andHeraclitusthat\'itiswhatopposesthathelps\'and\'fromdifferenttonescomesthefairesttune\'and\'allthingsareproducedthroughstrife\'；whileEmpedocles，aswellasothers，expressestheoppositeviewthatlikeaimsatlike。Thephysicalproblemswemayleavealone(fortheydonotbelongtothepresentinquiry)；letusexaminethosewhicharehumanandinvolvecharacterandfeeling，e。g。whetherfriendshipcanarisebetweenanytwopeopleorpeoplecannotbefriendsiftheyarewicked，andwhetherthereisonespeciesoffriendshipormorethanone。Thosewhothinkthereisonlyonebecauseitadmitsofdegreeshavereliedonaninadequateindication；foreventhingsdifferentinspeciesadmitofdegree。Wehavediscussedthismatterpreviously。
2
Thekindsoffriendshipmayperhapsbeclearedupifwefirstcometoknowtheobjectoflove。Fornoteverythingseemstobelovedbutonlythelovable，andthisisgood，pleasant，oruseful；butitwouldseemtobethatbywhichsomegoodorpleasureisproducedthatisuseful，sothatitisthegoodandtheusefulthatarelovableasends。Domenlove，then，thegood，orwhatisgoodforthem？
Thesesometimesclash。Sotoowithregardtothepleasant。Nowitisthoughtthateachloveswhatisgoodforhimself，andthatthegoodiswithoutqualificationlovable，andwhatisgoodforeachmanislovableforhim；buteachmanlovesnotwhatisgoodforhimbutwhatseemsgood。Thishoweverwillmakenodifference；weshalljusthavetosaythatthisis\'thatwhichseemslovable\'。Nowtherearethreegroundsonwhichpeoplelove；oftheloveoflifelessobjectswedonotusetheword\'friendship\'；foritisnotmutuallove，noristhereawishingofgoodtotheother(foritwouldsurelyberidiculoustowishwinewell；ifonewishesanythingforit，itisthatitmaykeep，sothatonemayhaveitoneself)；buttoafriendwesayweoughttowishwhatisgoodforhissake。Buttothosewhothuswishgoodweascribeonlygoodwill，ifthewishisnotreciprocated；goodwillwhenitisreciprocalbeingfriendship。Ormustweadd\'whenitisrecognized\'？Formanypeoplehavegoodwilltothosewhomtheyhavenotseenbutjudgetobegoodoruseful；andoneofthesemightreturnthisfeeling。Thesepeopleseemtobeargoodwilltoeachother；buthowcouldonecallthemfriendswhentheydonotknowtheirmutualfeelings？Tobefriends，then，themustbemutuallyrecognizedasbearinggoodwillandwishingwelltoeachotherforoneoftheaforesaidreasons。
3
Nowthesereasonsdifferfromeachotherinkind；so，therefore，dothecorrespondingformsofloveandfriendship。Therearethereforethreekindsoffriendship，equalinnumbertothethingsthatarelovable；forwithrespecttoeachthereisamutualandrecognizedlove，andthosewholoveeachotherwishwelltoeachotherinthatrespectinwhichtheyloveoneanother。Nowthosewholoveeachotherfortheirutilitydonotloveeachotherforthemselvesbutinvirtueofsomegoodwhichtheygetfromeachother。Sotoowiththosewholoveforthesakeofpleasure；itisnotfortheircharacterthatmenloveready-wittedpeople，butbecausetheyfindthempleasant。Thereforethosewholoveforthesakeofutilityloveforthesakeofwhatisgoodforthemselves，andthosewholoveforthesakeofpleasuredosoforthesakeofwhatispleasanttothemselves，andnotinsofarastheotheristhepersonlovedbutinsofarasheisusefulorpleasant。Andthusthesefriendshipsareonlyincidental；
foritisnotasbeingthemanheisthatthelovedpersonisloved，butasprovidingsomegoodorpleasure。Suchfriendships，then，areeasilydissolved，ifthepartiesdonotremainlikethemselves；foriftheonepartyisnolongerpleasantorusefultheotherceasestolovehim。
Nowtheusefulisnotpermanentbutisalwayschanging。Thuswhenthemotiveofthefriendshipisdoneaway，thefriendshipisdissolved，inasmuchasitexistedonlyfortheendsinquestion。
Thiskindoffriendshipseemstoexistchieflybetweenoldpeople(foratthatagepeoplepursuenotthepleasantbuttheuseful)and，ofthosewhoareintheirprimeoryoung，betweenthosewhopursueutility。Andsuchpeopledonotlivemuchwitheachothereither；
forsometimestheydonotevenfindeachotherpleasant；thereforetheydonotneedsuchcompanionshipunlesstheyareusefultoeachother；fortheyarepleasanttoeachotheronlyinsofarastheyrouseineachotherhopesofsomethinggoodtocome。Amongsuchfriendshipspeoplealsoclassthefriendshipofahostandguest。Ontheotherhandthefriendshipofyoungpeopleseemstoaimatpleasure；fortheyliveundertheguidanceofemotion，andpursueaboveallwhatispleasanttothemselvesandwhatisimmediatelybeforethem；butwithincreasingagetheirpleasuresbecomedifferent。
Thisiswhytheyquicklybecomefriendsandquicklyceasetobeso；
theirfriendshipchangeswiththeobjectthatisfoundpleasant，andsuchpleasurealtersquickly。Youngpeopleareamoroustoo；forthegreaterpartofthefriendshipoflovedependsonemotionandaimsatpleasure；thisiswhytheyfallinloveandquicklyfalloutoflove，changingoftenwithinasingleday。Butthesepeopledowishtospendtheirdaysandlivestogether；foritisthusthattheyattainthepurposeoftheirfriendship。
Perfectfriendshipisthefriendshipofmenwhoaregood，andalikeinvirtue；forthesewishwellaliketoeachotherquagood，andtheyaregoodthemselves。Nowthosewhowishwelltotheirfriendsfortheirsakearemosttrulyfriends；fortheydothisbyreasonofownnatureandnotincidentally；thereforetheirfriendshiplastsaslongastheyaregood-andgoodnessisanenduringthing。Andeachisgoodwithoutqualificationandtohisfriend，forthegoodarebothgoodwithoutqualificationandusefultoeachother。Sotootheyarepleasant；forthegoodarepleasantbothwithoutqualificationandtoeachother，sincetoeachhisownactivitiesandotherslikethemarepleasurable，andtheactionsofthegoodarethesameorlike。Andsuchafriendshipisasmightbeexpectedpermanent，sincetheremeetinitallthequalitiesthatfriendsshouldhave。Forallfriendshipisforthesakeofgoodorofpleasure-goodorpleasureeitherintheabstractorsuchaswillbeenjoyedbyhimwhohasthefriendlyfeeling-andisbasedonacertainresemblance；andtoafriendshipofgoodmenallthequalitieswehavenamedbelonginvirtueofthenatureofthefriendsthemselves；forinthecaseofthiskindoffriendshiptheotherqualitiesalsoarealikeinbothfriends，andthatwhichisgoodwithoutqualificationisalsowithoutqualificationpleasant，andthesearethemostlovablequalities。Loveandfriendshipthereforearefoundmostandintheirbestformbetweensuchmen。
Butitisnaturalthatsuchfriendshipsshouldbeinfrequent；forsuchmenarerare。Further，suchfriendshiprequirestimeandfamiliarity；astheproverbsays，mencannotknoweachothertilltheyhave\'eatensalttogether\'；norcantheyadmiteachothertofriendshiporbefriendstilleachhasbeenfoundlovableandbeentrustedbyeach。Thosewhoquicklyshowthemarksoffriendshiptoeachotherwishtobefriends，butarenotfriendsunlesstheybotharelovableandknowthefact；forawishforfriendshipmayarisequickly，butfriendshipdoesnot。
4
Thiskindoffriendship，then，isperfectbothinrespectofdurationandinallotherrespects，andiniteachgetsfromeachinallrespectsthesameas，orsomethinglikewhat，hegives；whichiswhatoughttohappenbetweenfriends。Friendshipforthesakeofpleasurebearsaresemblancetothiskind；forgoodpeopletooarepleasanttoeachother。Sotoodoesfriendshipforthesakeofutility；forthegoodarealsousefultoeachother。Amongmenoftheseinferiorsortstoo，friendshipsaremostpermanentwhenthefriendsgetthesamethingfromeachother(e。g。pleasure)，andnotonlythatbutalsofromthesamesource，ashappensbetweenreadywittedpeople，notashappensbetweenloverandbeloved。Forthesedonottakepleasureinthesamethings，buttheoneinseeingthebelovedandtheotherinreceivingattentionsfromhislover；
andwhenthebloomofyouthispassingthefriendshipsometimespassestoo(fortheonefindsnopleasureinthesightoftheother，andtheothergetsnoattentionsfromthefirst)；butmanyloversontheotherhandareconstant，iffamiliarityhasledthemtoloveeachother\'scharacters，thesebeingalike。Butthosewhoexchangenotpleasurebututilityintheiramourarebothlesstrulyfriendsandlessconstant。Thosewhoarefriendsforthesakeofutilitypartwhentheadvantageisatanend；fortheywereloversnotofeachotherbutofprofit。
Forthesakeofpleasureorutility，then，evenbadmenmaybefriendsofeachother，orgoodmenofbad，oronewhoisneithergoodnorbadmaybeafriendtoanysortofperson，butfortheirownsakeclearlyonlygoodmencanbefriends；forbadmendonotdelightineachotherunlesssomeadvantagecomeoftherelation。
Thefriendshipofthegoodtooandthisaloneisproofagainstslander；foritisnoteasytotrustanyonetalkaboutamanwhohaslongbeentestedbyoneself；anditisamonggoodmenthattrustandthefeelingthat\'hewouldneverwrongme\'andalltheotherthingsthataredemandedintruefriendshiparefound。Intheotherkindsoffriendship，however，thereisnothingtopreventtheseevilsarising。Formenapplythenameoffriendseventothosewhosemotiveisutility，inwhichsensestatesaresaidtobefriendly(forthealliancesofstatesseemtoaimatadvantage)，andtothosewholoveeachotherforthesakeofpleasure，inwhichsensechildrenarecalledfriends。Thereforewetoooughtperhapstocallsuchpeoplefriends，andsaythatthereareseveralkindsoffriendship-firstlyandinthepropersensethatofgoodmenquagood，andbyanalogytheotherkinds；foritisinvirtueofsomethinggoodandsomethingakintowhatisfoundintruefriendshipthattheyarefriends，sinceeventhepleasantisgoodfortheloversofpleasure。Butthesetwokindsoffriendshiparenotoftenunited，nordothesamepeoplebecomefriendsforthesakeofutilityandofpleasure；forthingsthatareonlyincidentallyconnectedarenotoftencoupledtogether。
Friendshipbeingdividedintothesekinds，badmenwillbefriendsforthesakeofpleasureorofutility，beinginthisrespectlikeeachother，butgoodmenwillbefriendsfortheirownsake，i。e。invirtueoftheirgoodness。These，then，arefriendswithoutqualification；theothersarefriendsincidentallyandthrougharesemblancetothese。
5
Asinregardtothevirtuessomemenarecalledgoodinrespectofastateofcharacter，othersinrespectofanactivity，sotoointhecaseoffriendship；forthosewholivetogetherdelightineachotherandconferbenefitsoneachother，butthosewhoareasleeporlocallyseparatedarenotperforming，butaredisposedtoperform，theactivitiesoffriendship；distancedoesnotbreakoffthefriendshipabsolutely，butonlytheactivityofit。Butiftheabsenceislasting，itseemsactuallytomakemenforgettheirfriendship；
hencethesaying\'outofsight，outofmind\'。Neitheroldpeoplenorsourpeopleseemtomakefriendseasily；forthereislittlethatispleasantinthem，andnoonecanspendhisdayswithonewhosecompanyispainful，ornotpleasant，sincenatureseemsabovealltoavoidthepainfulandtoaimatthepleasant。Those，however，whoapproveofeachotherbutdonotlivetogetherseemtobewell-disposedratherthanactualfriends。Forthereisnothingsocharacteristicoffriendsaslivingtogether(sincewhileitpeoplewhoareinneedthatdesirebenefits，eventhosewhoaresupremelyhappydesiretospendtheirdaystogether；forsolitudesuitssuchpeopleleastofall)；butpeoplecannotlivetogetheriftheyarenotpleasantanddonotenjoythesamethings，asfriendswhoarecompanionsseemtodo。
Thetruestfriendship，then，isthatofthegood，aswehavefrequentlysaid；forthatwhichiswithoutqualificationgoodorpleasantseemstobelovableanddesirable，andforeachpersonthatwhichisgoodorpleasanttohim；andthegoodmanislovableanddesirabletothegoodmanforboththesereasons。Nowitlooksasiflovewereafeeling，friendshipastateofcharacter；forlovemaybefeltjustasmuchtowardslifelessthings，butmutualloveinvolveschoiceandchoicespringsfromastateofcharacter；andmenwishwelltothosewhomtheylove，fortheirsake，notasaresultoffeelingbutasaresultofastateofcharacter。Andinlovingafriendmenlovewhatisgoodforthemselves；forthegoodmaninbecomingafriendbecomesagoodtohisfriend。Each，then，bothloveswhatisgoodforhimself，andmakesanequalreturningoodwillandinpleasantness；forfriendshipissaidtobeequality，andbothofthesearefoundmostinthefriendshipofthegood。
6
Betweensourandelderlypeoplefriendshipariseslessreadily，inasmuchastheyarelessgood-temperedandenjoycompanionshipless；forthesearethoutobethegreatestmarksoffriendshipproductiveofit。Thisiswhy，whilemenbecomefriendsquickly，oldmendonot；itisbecausemendonotbecomefriendswiththoseinwhomtheydonotdelight；andsimilarlysourpeopledonotquicklymakefriendseither。Butsuchmenmaybeargoodwilltoeachother；fortheywishoneanotherwellandaidoneanotherinneed；buttheyarehardlyfriendsbecausetheydonotspendtheirdaystogethernordelightineachother，andthesearethoughtthegreatestmarksoffriendship。
Onecannotbeafriendtomanypeopleinthesenseofhavingfriendshipoftheperfecttypewiththem，justasonecannotbeinlovewithmanypeopleatonce(forloveisasortofexcessoffeeling，anditisthenatureofsuchonlytobefelttowardsoneperson)；anditisnoteasyformanypeopleatthesametimetopleasethesamepersonverygreatly，orperhapseventobegoodinhiseyes。Onemust，too，acquiresomeexperienceoftheotherpersonandbecomefamiliarwithhim，andthatisveryhard。Butwithaviewtoutilityorpleasureitispossiblethatmanypeopleshouldpleaseone；
formanypeopleareusefulorpleasant，andtheseservicestakelittletime。
Ofthesetwokindsthatwhichisforthesakeofpleasureisthemorelikefriendship，whenbothpartiesgetthesamethingsfromeachotheranddelightineachotherorinthethings，asinthefriendshipsoftheyoung；forgenerosityismorefoundinsuchfriendships。Friendshipbasedonutilityisforthecommerciallyminded。Peoplewhoaresupremelyhappy，too，havenoneedofusefulfriends，butdoneedpleasantfriends；fortheywishtolivewithsomeoneand，thoughtheycanendureforashorttimewhatispainful，noonecouldputupwithitcontinuously，norevenwiththeGooditselfifitwerepainfultohim；thisiswhytheylookoutforfriendswhoarepleasant。Perhapstheyshouldlookoutforfriendswho，beingpleasant，arealsogood，andgoodforthemtoo；forsotheywillhaveallthecharacteristicsthatfriendsshouldhave。
Peopleinpositionsofauthorityseemtohavefriendswhofallintodistinctclasses；somepeopleareusefultothemandothersarepleasant，butthesamepeoplearerarelyboth；fortheyseekneitherthosewhosepleasantnessisaccompaniedbyvirtuenorthosewhoseutilityiswithaviewtonobleobjects，butintheirdesireforpleasuretheyseekforready-wittedpeople，andtheirotherfriendstheychooseasbeingcleveratdoingwhattheyaretold，andthesecharacteristicsarerarelycombined。Nowwehavesaidthatthegoodmanisatthesametimepleasantanduseful；butsuchamandoesnotbecomethefriendofonewhosurpasseshiminstation，unlessheissurpassedalsoinvirtue；ifthisisnotso，hedoesnotestablishequalitybybeingproportionallyexceededinbothrespects。Butpeoplewhosurpasshiminbothrespectsarenotsoeasytofind。
Howeverthatmaybe，theaforesaidfriendshipsinvolveequality；forthefriendsgetthesamethingsfromoneanotherandwishthesamethingsforoneanother，orexchangeonethingforanother，e。g。
pleasureforutility；wehavesaid，however，thattheyarebothlesstrulyfriendshipsandlesspermanent。
Butitisfromtheirlikenessandtheirunlikenesstothesamethingthattheyarethoughtbothtobeandnottobefriendships。Itisbytheirlikenesstothefriendshipofvirtuethattheyseemtobefriendships(foroneoftheminvolvespleasureandtheotherutility，andthesecharacteristicsbelongtothefriendshipofvirtueaswell)；whileitisbecausethefriendshipofvirtueisproofagainstslanderandpermanent，whilethesequicklychange(besidesdifferingfromtheformerinmanyotherrespects)，thattheyappearnottobefriendships；i。e。itisbecauseoftheirunlikenesstothefriendshipofvirtue。
7
Butthereisanotherkindoffriendship，viz。thatwhichinvolvesaninequalitybetweentheparties，e。g。thatoffathertosonandingeneralofeldertoyounger，thatofmantowifeandingeneralthatofrulertosubject。Andthesefriendshipsdifferalsofromeachother；foritisnotthesamethatexistsbetweenparentsandchildrenandbetweenrulersandsubjects，noriseventhatoffathertosonthesameasthatofsontofather，northatofhusbandtowifethesameasthatofwifetohusband。Forthevirtueandthefunctionofeachoftheseisdifferent，andsoarethereasonsforwhichtheylove；theloveandthefriendshiparethereforedifferentalso。Eachparty，then，neithergetsthesamefromtheother，noroughttoseekit；
butwhenchildrenrendertoparentswhattheyoughttorendertothosewhobroughtthemintotheworld，andparentsrenderwhattheyshouldtotheirchildren，thefriendshipofsuchpersonswillbeabidingandexcellent。Inallfriendshipsimplyinginequalitythelovealsoshouldbeproportional，i。e。thebettershouldbemorelovedthanheloves，andsoshouldthemoreuseful，andsimilarlyineachoftheothercases；forwhentheloveisinproportiontothemeritoftheparties，theninasensearisesequality，whichiscertainlyheldtobecharacteristicoffriendship。
Butequalitydoesnotseemtotakethesameforminactsofjusticeandinfriendship；forinactsofjusticewhatisequalintheprimarysenseisthatwhichisinproportiontomerit，whilequantitativeequalityissecondary，butinfriendshipquantitativeequalityisprimaryandproportiontomeritsecondary。Thisbecomesclearifthereisagreatintervalinrespectofvirtueorviceorwealthoranythingelsebetweentheparties；forthentheyarenolongerfriends，anddonotevenexpecttobeso。Andthisismostmanifestinthecaseofthegods；fortheysurpassusmostdecisivelyinallgoodthings。Butitisclearalsointhecaseofkings；forwiththem，too，menwhoaremuchtheirinferiorsdonotexpecttobefriends；nordomenofnoaccountexpecttobefriendswiththebestorwisestmen。Insuchcasesitisnotpossibletodefineexactlyuptowhatpointfriendscanremainfriends；formuchcanbetakenawayandfriendshipremain，butwhenonepartyisremovedtoagreatdistance，asGodis，thepossibilityoffriendshipceases。Thisisinfacttheoriginofthequestionwhetherfriendsreallywishfortheirfriendsthegreatestgoods，e。g。thatofbeinggods；sinceinthatcasetheirfriendswillnolongerbefriendstothem，andthereforewillnotbegoodthingsforthem(forfriendsaregoodthings)。Theansweristhatifwewererightinsayingthatfriendwishesgoodtofriendforhissake，hisfriendmustremainthesortofbeingheis，whateverthatmaybe；thereforeitisforhimoilysolongasheremainsamanthathewillwishthegreatestgoods。
Butperhapsnotallthegreatestgoods；foritisforhimselfmostofallthateachmanwisheswhatisgood。
8
Mostpeopleseem，owingtoambition，towishtobelovedratherthantolove；whichiswhymostmenloveflattery；fortheflattererisafriendinaninferiorposition，orpretendstobesuchandtolovemorethanheisloved；andbeinglovedseemstobeakintobeinghonoured，andthisiswhatmostpeopleaimat。Butitseemstobenotforitsownsakethatpeoplechoosehonour，butincidentally。
Formostpeopleenjoybeinghonouredbythoseinpositionsofauthoritybecauseoftheirhopes(fortheythinkthatiftheywantanythingtheywillgetitfromthem；andthereforetheydelightinhonourasatokenoffavourtocome)；whilethosewhodesirehonourfromgoodmen，andmenwhoknow，areaimingatconfirmingtheirownopinionofthemselves；theydelightinhonour，therefore，becausetheybelieveintheirowngoodnessonthestrengthofthejudgementofthosewhospeakaboutthem。Inbeingloved，ontheotherhand，peopledelightforitsownsake；whenceitwouldseemtobebetterthanbeinghonoured，andfriendshiptobedesirableinitself。Butitseemstolieinlovingratherthaninbeingloved，asisindicatedbythedelightmotherstakeinloving；forsomemothershandovertheirchildrentobebroughtup，andsolongastheyknowtheirfatetheylovethemanddonotseektobelovedinreturn(iftheycannothaveboth)，butseemtobesatisfiediftheyseethemprospering；andtheythemselveslovetheirchildreneveniftheseowingtotheirignorancegivethemnothingofamother\'sdue。Nowsincefriendshipdependsmoreonloving，anditisthosewholovetheirfriendsthatarepraised，lovingseemstobethecharacteristicvirtueoffriends，sothatitisonlythoseinwhomthisisfoundinduemeasurethatarelastingfriends，andonlytheirfriendshipthatendures。
Itisinthiswaymorethananyotherthatevenunequalscanbefriends；theycanbeequalized。Nowequalityandlikenessarefriendship，andespeciallythelikenessofthosewhoarelikeinvirtue；forbeingsteadfastinthemselvestheyholdfasttoeachother，andneitherasknorgivebaseservices，but(onemaysay)
evenpreventthem；foritischaracteristicofgoodmenneithertogowrongthemselvesnortolettheirfriendsdoso。Butwickedmenhavenosteadfastness(fortheydonotremainevenliketothemselves)，butbecomefriendsforashorttimebecausetheydelightineachother\'swickedness。Friendswhoareusefulorpleasantlastlonger；i。e。aslongastheyprovideeachotherwithenjoymentsoradvantages。Friendshipforutility\'ssakeseemstobethatwhichmosteasilyexistsbetweencontraries，e。g。betweenpoorandrich，betweenignorantandlearned；forwhatamanactuallylacksheaimsat，andonegivessomethingelseinreturn。Butunderthishead，too，mightbringloverandbeloved，beautifulandugly。Thisiswhyloverssometimesseemridiculous，whentheydemandtobelovedastheylove；iftheyareequallylovabletheirclaimcanperhapsbejustified，butwhentheyhavenothinglovableaboutthemitisridiculous。Perhaps，however，contrarydoesnotevenaimatcontrarybyitsownnature，butonlyincidentally，thedesirebeingforwhatisintermediate；forthatiswhatisgood，e。g。itisgoodforthedrynottobecomewetbuttocometotheintermediatestate，andsimilarlywiththehotandinallothercases。Thesesubjectswemaydismiss；
fortheyareindeedsomewhatforeigntoourinquiry。
9
Friendshipandjusticeseem，aswehavesaidattheoutsetofourdiscussion，tobeconcernedwiththesameobjectsandexhibitedbetweenthesamepersons。Forineverycommunitythereisthoughttobesomeformofjustice，andfriendshiptoo；atleastmenaddressasfriendstheirfellow-voyagersandfellowsoldiers，andsotoothoseassociatedwiththeminanyotherkindofcommunity。Andtheextentoftheirassociationistheextentoftheirfriendship，asitistheextenttowhichjusticeexistsbetweenthem。Andtheproverb\'whatfriendshaveiscommonproperty\'expressesthetruth；forfriendshipdependsoncommunity。Nowbrothersandcomradeshaveallthingsincommon，buttheotherstowhomwehavereferredhavedefinitethingsincommon-somemorethings，othersfewer；foroffriendships，too，somearemoreandotherslesstrulyfriendships。Andtheclaimsofjusticediffertoo；thedutiesofparentstochildren，andthoseofbrotherstoeachotherarenotthesame，northoseofcomradesandthoseoffellow-citizens，andso，too，withtheotherkindsoffriendship。Thereisadifference，therefore，alsobetweentheactsthatareunjusttowardseachoftheseclassesofassociates，andtheinjusticeincreasesbybeingexhibitedtowardsthosewhoarefriendsinafullersense；e。g。itisamoreterriblethingtodefraudacomradethanafellow-citizen，moreterriblenottohelpabrotherthanastranger，andmoreterribletowoundafatherthananyoneelse。Andthedemandsofjusticealsoseemtoincreasewiththeintensityofthefriendship，whichimpliesthatfriendshipandjusticeexistbetweenthesamepersonsandhaveanequalextension。
Nowallformsofcommunityarelikepartsofthepoliticalcommunity；formenjourneytogetherwithaviewtosomeparticularadvantage，andtoprovidesomethingthattheyneedforthepurposesoflife；anditisforthesakeofadvantagethatthepoliticalcommunitytooseemsbothtohavecometogetheroriginallyandtoendure，forthisiswhatlegislatorsaimat，andtheycalljustthatwhichistothecommonadvantage。Nowtheothercommunitiesaimatadvantagebitbybit，e。g。sailorsatwhatisadvantageousonavoyagewithaviewtomakingmoneyorsomethingofthekind，fellow-soldiersatwhatisadvantageousinwar，whetheritiswealthorvictoryorthetakingofacitythattheyseek，andmembersoftribesanddemesactsimilarly(Somecommunitiesseemtoariseforthesakeorpleasure，viz。religiousguildsandsocialclubs；fortheseexistrespectivelyforthesakeofofferingsacrificeandofcompanionship。Butalltheseseemtofallunderthepoliticalcommunity；foritaimsnotatpresentadvantagebutatwhatisadvantageousforlifeasawhole)，offeringsacrificesandarranginggatheringsforthepurpose，andassigninghonourstothegods，andprovidingpleasantrelaxationsforthemselves。Fortheancientsacrificesandgatheringsseemtotakeplaceaftertheharvestasasortoffirstfruits，becauseitwasattheseseasonsthatpeoplehadmostleisure。Allthecommunities，then，seemtobepartsofthepoliticalcommunity；andtheparticularkindsfriendshipwillcorrespondtotheparticularkindsofcommunity。
10
Therearethreekindsofconstitution，andanequalnumberofdeviation-forms——perversions，asitwere，ofthem。Theconstitutionsaremonarchy，aristocracy，andthirdlythatwhichisbasedonapropertyqualification，whichitseemsappropriatetocalltimocratic，thoughmostpeoplearewonttocallitpolity。Thebestoftheseismonarchy，theworsttimocracy。Thedeviationfrommonarchyistyrany；forbothareformsofone-manrule，butthereisthegreatestdifferencebetweenthem；thetyrantlookstohisownadvantage，thekingtothatofhissubjects。Foramanisnotakingunlessheissufficienttohimselfandexcelshissubjectsinallgoodthings；andsuchamanneedsnothingfurther；thereforehewillnotlooktohisowninterestsbuttothoseofhissubjects；forakingwhoisnotlikethatwouldbeameretitularking。Nowtyrannyistheverycontraryofthis；thetyrantpursueshisowngood。Anditisclearerinthecaseoftyrannythatitistheworstdeviation-form；butitisthecontraryofthebestthatisworst。Monarchypassesoverintotyranny；fortyrannyistheevilformofone-manruleandthebadkingbecomesatyrant。Aristocracypassesoverintooligarchybythebadnessoftherulers，whodistributecontrarytoequitywhatbelongstothecity-allormostofthegoodthingstothemselves，andofficealwaystothesamepeople，payingmostregardtowealth；
thustherulersarefewandarebadmeninsteadofthemostworthy。
Timocracypassesoverintodemocracy；forthesearecoterminous，sinceitistheidealevenoftimocracytobetheruleofthemajority，andallwhohavethepropertyqualificationcountasequal。
Democracyistheleastbadofthedeviations；forinitscasetheformofconstitutionisbutaslightdeviation。Thesethenarethechangestowhichconstitutionsaremostsubject；forthesearethesmallestandeasiesttransitions。
Onemayfindresemblancestotheconstitutionsand，asitwere，patternsofthemeveninhouseholds。Fortheassociationofafatherwithhissonsbearstheformofmonarchy，sincethefathercaresforhischildren；andthisiswhyHomercallsZeus\'father\'；itistheidealofmonarchytobepaternalrule。ButamongthePersianstheruleofthefatheristyrannical；theyusetheirsonsasslaves。Tyrannicaltooistheruleofamasteroverslaves；foritistheadvantageofthemasterthatisbroughtaboutinit。Nowthisseemstobeacorrectformofgovernment，butthePersiantypeisperverted；forthemodesofruleappropriatetodifferentrelationsarediverse。Theassociationofmanandwifeseemstobearistocratic；forthemanrulesinaccordancewithhisworth，andinthosemattersinwhichamanshouldrule，butthemattersthatbefitawomanhehandsovertoher。Ifthemanrulesineverythingtherelationpassesoverintooligarchy；forindoingsoheisnotactinginaccordancewiththeirrespectiveworth，andnotrulinginvirtueofhissuperiority。
Sometimes，however，womenrule，becausetheyareheiresses；sotheirruleisnotinvirtueofexcellencebutduetowealthandpower，asinoligarchies。Theassociationofbrothersisliketimocracy；fortheyareequal，exceptinsofarastheydifferinage；henceiftheydiffermuchinage，thefriendshipisnolongerofthefraternaltype。
Democracyisfoundchieflyinmasterlessdwellings(forhereeveryoneisonanequality)，andinthoseinwhichtherulerisweakandeveryonehaslicencetodoashepleases。
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Eachoftheconstitutionsmaybeseentoinvolvefriendshipjustinsofarasitinvolvesjustice。Thefriendshipbetweenakingandhissubjectsdependsonanexcessofbenefitsconferred；forheconfersbenefitsonhissubjectsifbeingagoodmanhecaresforthemwithaviewtotheirwell-being，asashepherddoesforhissheep(whenceHomercalledAgamemnon\'shepherdofthepeoples\')。Suchtooisthefriendshipofafather，thoughthisexceedstheotherinthegreatnessofthebenefitsconferred；forheisresponsiblefortheexistenceofhischildren，whichisthoughtthegreatestgood，andfortheirnurtureandupbringing。
Thesethingsareascribedtoancestorsaswell。Further，bynatureafathertendstoruleoverhissons，ancestorsoverdescendants，akingoverhissubjects。Thesefriendshipsimplysuperiorityofonepartyovertheother，whichiswhyancestorsarehonoured。Thejusticethereforethatexistsbetweenpersonssorelatedisnotthesameonbothsidesbutisineverycaseproportionedtomerit；forthatistrueofthefriendshipaswell。Thefriendshipofmanandwife，again，isthesamethatisfoundinanaristocracy；foritisinaccordancewithvirtuethebettergetsmoreofwhatisgood，andeachgetswhatbefitshim；andso，too，withthejusticeintheserelations。Thefriendshipofbrothersislikethatofcomrades；fortheyareequalandoflikeage，andsuchpersonsareforthemostpartlikeintheirfeelingsandtheircharacter。Likethis，too，isthefriendshipappropriatetotimocraticgovernment；forinsuchaconstitutiontheidealisforthecitizenstobeequalandfair；
thereforeruleistakeninturn，andonequalterms；andthefriendshipappropriateherewillcorrespond。
Butinthedeviation-forms，asjusticehardlyexists，sotoodoesfriendship。Itexistsleastintheworstform；intyrannythereislittleornofriendship。Forwherethereisnothingcommontorulerandruled，thereisnotfriendshipeither，sincethereisnotjustice；
e。g。betweencraftsmanandtool，soulandbody，masterandslave；
thelatterineachcaseisbenefitedbythatwhichusesit，butthereisnofriendshipnorjusticetowardslifelessthings。Butneitheristherefriendshiptowardsahorseoranox，nortoaslavequaslave。Forthereisnothingcommontothetwoparties；theslaveisalivingtoolandthetoolalifelessslave。Quaslavethen，onecannotbefriendswithhim。Butquamanonecan；forthereseemstobesomejusticebetweenanymanandanyotherwhocanshareinasystemoflaworbeapartytoanagreement；thereforetherecanalsobefriendshipwithhiminsofarasheisaman。Thereforewhileintyranniesfriendshipandjusticehardlyexist，indemocraciestheyexistmorefully；forwherethecitizensareequaltheyhavemuchincommon。
12
Everyformoffriendship，then，involvesassociation，ashasbeensaid。Onemight，however，markofffromtherestboththefriendshipofkindredandthatofcomrades。Thoseoffellow-citizens，fellow-tribesmen，fellow-voyagers，andthelikearemorelikemerefriendshipsofassociation；fortheyseemtorestonasortofcompact。Withthemwemightclassthefriendshipofhostandguest。
Thefriendshipofkinsmenitself，whileitseemstobeofmanykinds，appearstodependineverycaseonparentalfriendship；forparentslovetheirchildrenasbeingapartofthemselves，andchildrentheirparentsasbeingsomethingoriginatingfromthem。Now(1)arentsknowtheiroffspringbetterthantherechildrenknowthattheyaretheirchildren，and(2)theoriginatorfeelshisoffspringtobehisownmorethantheoffspringdotheirbegetter；fortheproductbelongstotheproducer(e。g。atoothorhairoranythingelsetohimwhoseitis)，buttheproducerdoesnotbelongtotheproduct，orbelongsinalessdegree。And(3)thelengthoftimeproducesthesameresult；parentslovetheirchildrenassoonastheseareborn，butchildrenlovetheirparentsonlyaftertimehaselapsedandtheyhaveacquiredunderstandingorthepowerofdiscriminationbythesenses。Fromtheseconsiderationsitisalsoplainwhymotherslovemorethanfathersdo。Parents，then，lovetheirchildrenasthemselves(fortheirissuearebyvirtueoftheirseparateexistenceasortofotherselves)，whilechildrenlovetheirparentsasbeingbornofthem，andbrothersloveeachotherasbeingbornofthesameparents；fortheiridentitywiththemmakesthemidenticalwitheachother(whichisthereasonwhypeopletalkof\'thesameblood\'，\'thesamestock\'，andsoon)。Theyare，therefore，inasensethesamething，thoughinseparateindividuals。Twothingsthatcontributegreatlytofriendshipareacommonupbringingandsimilarityofage；for\'twoofanagetaketoeachother\'，andpeoplebroughtuptogethertendtobecomrades；whencethefriendshipofbrothersisakintothatofcomrades。Andcousinsandotherkinsmenarebounduptogetherbyderivationfrombrothers，viz。bybeingderivedfromthesameparents。Theycometobeclosertogetherorfartherapartbyvirtueofthenearnessordistanceoftheoriginalancestor。
Thefriendshipofchildrentoparents，andofmentogods，isarelationtothemastosomethinggoodandsuperior；fortheyhaveconferredthegreatestbenefits，sincetheyarethecausesoftheirbeingandoftheirnourishment，andoftheireducationfromtheirbirth；andthiskindoffriendshippossessespleasantnessandutilityalso，morethanthatofstrangers，inasmuchastheirlifeislivedmoreincommon。Thefriendshipofbrothershasthecharacteristicsfoundinthatofcomrades(andespeciallywhenthesearegood)，andingeneralbetweenpeoplewhoarelikeeachother，inasmuchastheybelongmoretoeachotherandstartwithaloveforeachotherfromtheirverybirth，andinasmuchasthosebornofthesameparentsandbroughtuptogetherandsimilarlyeducatedaremoreakinincharacter；andthetestoftimehasbeenappliedmostfullyandconvincinglyintheircase。
Betweenotherkinsmenfriendlyrelationsarefoundindueproportion。Betweenmanandwifefriendshipseemstoexistbynature；formanisnaturallyinclinedtoformcouples-evenmorethantoformcities，inasmuchasthehouseholdisearlierandmorenecessarythanthecity，andreproductionismorecommontomanwiththeanimals。Withtheotheranimalstheunionextendsonlytothispoint，buthumanbeingslivetogethernotonlyforthesakeofreproductionbutalsoforthevariouspurposesoflife；forfromthestartthefunctionsaredivided，andthoseofmanandwomanaredifferent；sotheyhelpeachotherbythrowingtheirpeculiargiftsintothecommonstock。Itisforthesereasonsthatbothutilityandpleasureseemtobefoundinthiskindoffriendship。Butthisfriendshipmaybebasedalsoonvirtue，ifthepartiesaregood；foreachhasitsownvirtueandtheywilldelightinthefact。Andchildrenseemtobeabondofunion(whichisthereasonwhychildlesspeoplepartmoreeasily)；forchildrenareagoodcommontobothandwhatiscommonholdsthemtogether。
Howmanandwifeandingeneralfriendandfriendoughtmutuallytobehaveseemstobethesamequestionashowitisjustforthemtobehave；foramandoesnotseemtohavethesamedutiestoafriend，astranger，acomrade，andaschoolfellow。
13
Therearethreekindsoffriendship，aswesaidattheoutsetofourinquiry，andinrespectofeachsomearefriendsonanequalityandothersbyvirtueofasuperiority(fornotonlycanequallygoodmenbecomefriendsbutabettermancanmakefriendswithaworse，andsimilarlyinfriendshipsofpleasureorutilitythefriendsmaybeequalorunequalinthebenefitstheyconfer)。Thisbeingso，equalsmusteffecttherequiredequalizationonabasisofequalityinloveandinallotherrespects，whileunequalsmustrenderwhatisinproportiontotheirsuperiorityorinferiority。Complaintsandreproachesariseeitheronlyorchieflyinthefriendshipofutility，andthisisonlytobeexpected。Forthosewhoarefriendsonthegroundofvirtueareanxioustodowellbyeachother(sincethatisamarkofvirtueandoffriendship)，andbetweenmenwhoareemulatingeachotherinthistherecannotbecomplaintsorquarrels；
nooneisoffendedbyamanwholoveshimanddoeswellbyhim-ifheisapersonofnicefeelinghetakeshisrevengebydoingwellbytheother。Andthemanwhoexcelstheotherintheservicesherenderswillnotcomplainofhisfriend，sincehegetswhatheaimsat；foreachmandesireswhatisgood。Nordocomplaintsarisemucheveninfriendshipsofpleasure；forbothgetatthesametimewhattheydesire，iftheyenjoyspendingtheirtimetogether；andevenamanwhocomplainedofanotherfornotaffordinghimpleasurewouldseemridiculous，sinceitisinhispowernottospendhisdayswithhim。
Butthefriendshipofutilityisfullofcomplaints；forastheyuseeachotherfortheirownintereststheyalwayswanttogetthebetterofthebargain，andthinktheyhavegotlessthantheyshould，andblametheirpartnersbecausetheydonotgetallthey\'wantanddeserve\'；andthosewhodowellbyotherscannothelpthemasmuchasthosewhomtheybenefitwant。
Nowitseemsthat，asjusticeisoftwokinds，oneunwrittenandtheotherlegal，onekindoffriendshipofutilityismoralandtheotherlegal。Andsocomplaintsarisemostofallwhenmendonotdissolvetherelationinthespiritofthesametypeoffriendshipinwhichtheycontractedit。Thelegaltypeisthatwhichisonfixedterms；itspurelycommercialvarietyisonthebasisofimmediatepayment，whilethemoreliberalvarietyallowstimebutstipulatesforadefinitequidproquo。Inthisvarietythedebtisclearandnotambiguous，butinthepostponementitcontainsanelementoffriendliness；andsosomestatesdonotallowsuitsarisingoutofsuchagreements，butthinkmenwhohavebargainedonabasisofcreditoughttoaccepttheconsequences。Themoraltypeisnotonfixedterms；itmakesagift，ordoeswhateveritdoes，astoafriend；butoneexpectstoreceiveasmuchormore，ashavingnotgivenbutlent；andifamanisworseoffwhentherelationisdissolvedthanhewaswhenitwascontractedhewillcomplain。Thishappensbecauseallormostmen，whiletheywishforwhatisnoble，choosewhatisadvantageous；nowitisnobletodowellbyanotherwithoutaviewtorepayment，butitisthereceivingofbenefitsthatisadvantageous。Thereforeifwecanweshouldreturntheequivalentofwhatwehavereceived(forwemustnotmakeamanourfriendagainsthiswill；wemustrecognizethatweweremistakenatthefirstandtookabenefitfromapersonweshouldnothavetakenitfrom-sinceitwasnotfromafriend，norfromonewhodiditjustforthesakeofactingso-andwemustsettleupjustasifwehadbeenbenefitedonfixedterms)。Indeed，onewouldagreetorepayifonecould(ifonecouldnot，eventhegiverwouldnothaveexpectedonetodoso)；thereforeifitispossiblewemustrepay。Butattheoutsetwemustconsiderthemanbywhomwearebeingbenefitedandonwhattermsheisacting，inorderthatwemayacceptthebenefitontheseterms，orelsedeclineit。
Itisdisputablewhetherweoughttomeasureaservicebyitsutilitytothereceiverandmakethereturnwithaviewtothat，orbythebenevolenceofthegiver。Forthosewhohavereceivedsaytheyhavereceivedfromtheirbenefactorswhatmeantlittletothelatterandwhattheymighthavegotfromothers-minimizingtheservice；whilethegivers，onthecontrary，sayitwasthebiggestthingtheyhad，andwhatcouldnothavebeengotfromothers，andthatitwasgivenintimesofdangerorsimilarneed。Nowifthefriendshipisonethataimsatutility，surelytheadvantagetothereceiveristhemeasure。Foritishethatasksfortheservice，andtheothermanhelpshimontheassumptionthathewillreceivetheequivalent；sotheassistancehasbeenpreciselyasgreatastheadvantagetothereceiver，andthereforehemustreturnasmuchashehasreceived，orevenmore(forthatwouldbenobler)。Infriendshipsbasedonvirtueontheotherhand，complaintsdonotarise，butthepurposeofthedoerisasortofmeasure；forinpurposeliestheessentialelementofvirtueandcharacter。
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Differencesarisealsoinfriendshipsbasedonsuperiority；foreachexpectstogetmoreoutofthem，butwhenthishappensthefriendshipisdissolved。Notonlydoesthebettermanthinkheoughttogetmore，sincemoreshouldbeassignedtoagoodman，butthemoreusefulsimilarlyexpectsthis；theysayauselessmanshouldnotgetasmuchastheyshould，sinceitbecomesanactofpublicserviceandnotafriendshipiftheproceedsofthefriendshipdonotanswertotheworthofthebenefitsconferred。Fortheythinkthat，asinacommercialpartnershipthosewhoputmoreingetmoreout，soitshouldbeinfriendship。Butthemanwhoisinastateofneedandinferioritymakestheoppositeclaim；theythinkitisthepartofagoodfriendtohelpthosewhoareinneed；what，theysay，istheuseofbeingthefriendofagoodmanorapowerfulman，ifoneistogetnothingoutofit？
Atalleventsitseemsthateachpartyisjustifiedinhisclaim，andthateachshouldgetmoreoutofthefriendshipthantheother-notmoreofthesamething，however，butthesuperiormorehonourandtheinferiormoregain；forhonouristheprizeofvirtueandofbeneficence，whilegainistheassistancerequiredbyinferiority。
Itseemstobesoinconstitutionalarrangementsalso；themanwhocontributesnothinggoodtothecommonstockisnothonoured；forwhatbelongstothepublicisgiventothemanwhobenefitsthepublic，andhonourdoesbelongtothepublic。Itisnotpossibletogetwealthfromthecommonstockandatthesametimehonour。Fornooneputsupwiththesmallershareinallthings；thereforetothemanwholosesinwealththeyassignhonourandtothemanwhoiswillingtobepaid，wealth，sincetheproportiontomeritequalizesthepartiesandpreservesthefriendship，aswehavesaid。Thisthenisalsothewayinwhichweshouldassociatewithunequals；themanwhoisbenefitedinrespectofwealthorvirtuemustgivehonourinreturn，repayingwhathecan。Forfriendshipasksamantodowhathecan，notwhatisproportionaltothemeritsofthecase；sincethatcannotalwaysbedone，e。g。inhonourspaidtothegodsortoparents；fornoonecouldeverreturntothemtheequivalentofwhathegets，butthemanwhoservesthemtotheutmostofhispoweristhoughttobeagoodman。Thisiswhyitwouldnotseemopentoamantodisownhisfather(thoughafathermaydisownhisson)；beingindebt，heshouldrepay，butthereisnothingbydoingwhichasonwillhavedonetheequivalentofwhathehasreceived，sothatheisalwaysindebt。Butcreditorscanremitadebt；andafathercanthereforedosotoo。Atthesametimeitisthoughtthatpresumablynoonewouldrepudiateasonwhowasnotfargoneinwickedness；forapartfromthenaturalfriendshipoffatherandsonitishumannaturenottorejectason\'sassistance。Buttheson，ifheiswicked，willnaturallyavoidaidinghisfather，ornotbezealousaboutit；formostpeoplewishtogetbenefits，butavoiddoingthem，asathingunprofitable-Somuchforthesequestions。
BOOKIX
1
INallfriendshipsbetweendissimilarsitis，aswehavesaid，proportionthatequalizesthepartiesandpreservesthefriendship；
e。g。inthepoliticalformoffriendshiptheshoemakergetsareturnforhisshoesinproportiontohisworth，andtheweaverandallothercraftsmendothesame。Nowhereacommonmeasurehasbeenprovidedintheformofmoney，andthereforeeverythingisreferredtothisandmeasuredbythis；butinthefriendshipofloverssometimesthelovercomplainsthathisexcessofloveisnotmetbyloveinreturnthoughperhapsthereisnothinglovableabouthim)，whileoftenthebelovedcomplainsthattheloverwhoformerlypromisedeverythingnowperformsnothing。Suchincidentshappenwhentheloverlovesthebelovedforthesakeofpleasurewhilethebelovedlovestheloverforthesakeofutility，andtheydonotbothpossessthequalitiesexpectedofthem。Ifthesebetheobjectsofthefriendshipitisdissolvedwhentheydonotgetthethingsthatformedthemotivesoftheirlove；foreachdidnotlovetheotherpersonhimselfbutthequalitieshehad，andthesewerenotenduring；thatiswhythefriendshipsalsoaretransient。Buttheloveofcharacters，ashasbeensaid，enduresbecauseitisself-dependent。Differencesarisewhenwhattheygetissomethingdifferentandnotwhattheydesire；
foritislikegettingnothingatallwhenwedonotgetwhatweaimat；comparethestoryofthepersonwhomadepromisestoalyre-player，promisinghimthemore，thebetterhesang，butinthemorning，whentheotherdemandedthefulfilmentofhispromises，saidthathehadgivenpleasureforpleasure。Nowifthishadbeenwhateachwanted，allwouldhavebeenwell；butiftheonewantedenjoymentbuttheothergain，andtheonehaswhathewantswhiletheotherhasnot，thetermsoftheassociationwillnothavebeenproperlyfulfilled；forwhateachinfactwantsiswhatheattendsto，anditisforthesakeofthatthatthathewillgivewhathehas。
Butwhoistofixtheworthoftheservice；hewhomakesthesacrificeorhewhohasgottheadvantage？Atanyratetheotherseemstoleaveittohim。ThisiswhattheysayProtagorasusedtodo；
wheneverhetaughtanythingwhatsoever，hebadethelearnerassessthevalueoftheknowledge，andacceptedtheamountsofixed。Butinsuchmatterssomemenapproveofthesaying\'letamanhavehisfixedreward\'。Thosewhogetthemoneyfirstandthendononeofthethingstheysaidtheywould，owingtotheextravaganceoftheirpromises，naturallyfindthemselvestheobjectsofcomplaint；fortheydonotfulfilwhattheyagreedto。Thesophistsareperhapscompelledtodothisbecausenoonewouldgivemoneyforthethingstheydoknow。Thesepeoplethen，iftheydonotdowhattheyhavebeenpaidfor，arenaturallymadetheobjectsofcomplaint。
Butwherethereisnocontractofservice，thosewhogiveupsomethingforthesakeoftheotherpartycannot(aswehavesaid)
becomplainedof(forthatisthenatureofthefriendshipofvirtue)，andthereturntothemmustbemadeonthebasisoftheirpurpose(foritispurposethatisthecharacteristicthinginafriendandinvirtue)。Andsotoo，itseems，shouldonemakeareturntothosewithwhomonehasstudiedphilosophy；fortheirworthcannotbemeasuredagainstmoney，andtheycangetnohonourwhichwillbalancetheirservices，butstillitisperhapsenough，asitiswiththegodsandwithone\'sparents，togivethemwhatonecan。
Ifthegiftwasnotofthissort，butwasmadewithaviewtoareturn，itisnodoubtpreferablethatthereturnmadeshouldbeonethatseemsfairtobothparties，butifthiscannotbeachieved，itwouldseemnotonlynecessarythatthepersonwhogetsthefirstserviceshouldfixthereward，butalsojust；foriftheothergetsinreturntheequivalentoftheadvantagethebeneficiaryhasreceived，orthepriceliewouldhavepaidforthepleasure，hewillhavegotwhatisfairasfromtheother。
Weseethishappeningtoowiththingsputupforsale，andinsomeplacestherearelawsprovidingthatnoactionsshallariseoutofvoluntarycontracts，ontheassumptionthatoneshouldsettlewithapersontowhomonehasgivencredit，inthespiritinwhichonebargainedwithhim。Thelawholdsthatitismorejustthatthepersontowhomcreditwasgivenshouldfixthetermsthanthatthepersonwhogavecreditshoulddoso。Formostthingsarenotassessedatthesamevaluebythosewhohavethemandthosewhowantthem；eachclassvalueshighlywhatisitsownandwhatitisoffering；yetthereturnismadeonthetermsfixedbythereceiver。Butnodoubtthereceivershouldassessathingnotatwhatitseemsworthwhenhehasit，butatwhatheassesseditatbeforehehadit。
2
Afurtherproblemissetbysuchquestionsas，whetheroneshouldinallthingsgivethepreferencetoone\'sfatherandobeyhim，orwhetherwhenoneisilloneshouldtrustadoctor，andwhenonehastoelectageneralshouldelectamanofmilitaryskill；andsimilarlywhetheroneshouldrenderaservicebypreferencetoafriendortoagoodman，andshouldshowgratitudetoabenefactororobligeafriend，ifonecannotdoboth。
Allsuchquestionsarehard，aretheynot，todecidewithprecision？
Fortheyadmitofmanyvariationsofallsortsinrespectbothofthemagnitudeoftheserviceandofitsnobilitynecessity。Butthatweshouldnotgivethepreferenceinallthingstothesamepersonisplainenough；andwemustforthemostpartreturnbenefitsratherthanobligefriends，aswemustpaybackaloantoacreditorratherthanmakeonetoafriend。Butperhapseventhisisnotalwaystrue；e。g。shouldamanwhohasbeenransomedoutofthehandsofbrigandsransomhisransomerinreturn，whoeverhemaybe(orpayhimifhehasnotbeencapturedbutdemandspayment)orshouldheransomhisfather？Itwouldseemthatheshouldransomhisfatherinpreferenceeventohimself。Aswehavesaid，then，generallythedebtshouldbepaid，butifthegiftisexceedinglynobleorexceedinglynecessary，oneshoulddefertotheseconsiderations。Forsometimesitisnotevenfairtoreturntheequivalentofwhatonehasreceived，whentheonemanhasdoneaservicetoonewhomheknowstobegood，whiletheothermakesareturntoonewhomhebelievestobebad。Forthatmatter，oneshouldsometimesnotlendinreturntoonewhohaslenttooneself；fortheonepersonlenttoagoodman，expectingtorecoverhisloan，whiletheotherhasnohopeofrecoveringfromonewhoisbelievedtobebad。Thereforeifthefactsreallyareso，thedemandisnotfair；andiftheyarenot，butpeoplethinktheyare，theywouldbeheldtobedoingnothingstrangeinrefusing。Aswehaveoftenpointedout，then，discussionsaboutfeelingsandactionshavejustasmuchdefinitenessastheirsubject-matter。
Thatweshouldnotmakethesamereturntoeveryone，norgiveafatherthepreferenceineverything，asonedoesnotsacrificeeverythingtoZeus，isplainenough；butsinceweoughttorenderdifferentthingstoparents，brothers，comrades，andbenefactors，weoughttorendertoeachclasswhatisappropriateandbecoming。Andthisiswhatpeopleseeminfacttodo；tomarriagestheyinvitetheirkinsfolk；forthesehaveapartinthefamilyandthereforeinthedoingsthataffectthefamily；andatfuneralsalsotheythinkthatkinsfolk，beforeallothers，shouldmeet，forthesamereason。Anditwouldbethoughtthatinthematteroffoodweshouldhelpourparentsbeforeallothers，sinceweoweourownnourishmenttothem，anditismorehonourabletohelpinthisrespecttheauthorsofourbeingevenbeforeourselves；andhonourtoooneshouldgivetoone\'sparentsasonedoestothegods，butnotanyandeveryhonour；forthatmatteroneshouldnotgivethesamehonourtoone\'sfatherandone\'smother，noragainshouldonegivethemthehonourduetoaphilosopherortoageneral，butthehonourduetoafather，oragaintoamother。Toallolderpersons，too，oneshouldgivehonourappropriatetotheirage，byrisingtoreceivethemandfindingseatsforthemandsoon；whiletocomradesandbrothersoneshouldallowfreedomofspeechandcommonuseofallthings。Tokinsmen，too，andfellow-tribesmenandfellow-citizensandtoeveryotherclassoneshouldalwaystrytoassignwhatisappropriate，andtocomparetheclaimsofeachclasswithrespecttonearnessofrelationandtovirtueorusefulness。Thecomparisoniseasierwhenthepersonsbelongtothesameclass，andmorelaboriouswhentheyaredifferent。Yetwemustnotonthataccountshrinkfromthetask，butdecidethequestionasbestwecan。
3
Anotherquestionthatarisesiswhetherfriendshipsshouldorshouldnotbebrokenoffwhentheotherpartydoesnotremainthesame。
Perhapswemaysaythatthereisnothingstrangeinbreakingoffafriendshipbasedonutilityorpleasure，whenourfriendsnolongerhavetheseattributes。Foritwasoftheseattributesthatwewerethefriends；andwhenthesehavefaileditisreasonabletolovenolonger。Butonemightcomplainofanotherif，whenhelovedusforourusefulnessorpleasantness，hepretendedtoloveusforourcharacter。
For，aswesaidattheoutset，mostdifferencesarisebetweenfriendswhentheyarenotfriendsinthespiritinwhichtheythinktheyare。Sowhenamanhasdeceivedhimselfandhasthoughthewasbeinglovedforhischaracter，whentheotherpersonwasdoingnothingofthekind，hemustblamehimself；whenhehasbeendeceivedbythepretencesoftheotherperson，itisjustthatheshouldcomplainagainsthisdeceiver；hewillcomplainwithmorejusticethanonedoesagainstpeoplewhocounterfeitthecurrency，inasmuchasthewrongdoingisconcernedwithsomethingmorevaluable。
Butifoneacceptsanothermanasgood，andheturnsoutbadlyandisseentodoso，mustonestilllovehim？Surelyitisimpossible，sincenoteverythingcanbeloved，butonlywhatisgood。Whatisevilneithercannorshouldbeloved；foritisnotone\'sdutytobealoverofevil，nortobecomelikewhatisbad；andwehavesaidthatlikeisdearlike。Mustthefriendship，then，beforthwithbrokenoff？
Oristhisnotsoinallcases，butonlywhenone\'sfriendsareincurableintheirwickedness？Iftheyarecapableofbeingreformedoneshouldrathercometotheassistanceoftheircharacterortheirproperty，inasmuchasthisisbetterandmorecharacteristicoffriendship。Butamanwhobreaksoffsuchafriendshipwouldseemtobedoingnothingstrange；foritwasnottoamanofthissortthathewasafriend；whenhisfriendhaschanged，therefore，andheisunabletosavehim，hegiveshimup。
Butifonefriendremainedthesamewhiletheotherbecamebetterandfaroutstrippedhiminvirtue，shouldthelattertreattheformerasafriend？Surelyhecannot。Whentheintervalisgreatthisbecomesmostplain，e。g。inthecaseofchildishfriendships；
ifonefriendremainedachildinintellectwhiletheotherbecameafullydevelopedman，howcouldtheybefriendswhentheyneitherapprovedofthesamethingsnordelightedinandwerepainedbythesamethings？Fornotevenwithregardtoeachotherwilltheirtastesagree，andwithoutthis(aswesaw)theycannotbefriends；fortheycannotlivetogether。Butwehavediscussedthesematters。
Shouldhe，then，behavenootherwisetowardshimthanhewouldifhehadneverbeenhisfriend？Surelyheshouldkeeparemembranceoftheirformerintimacy，andaswethinkweoughttoobligefriendsratherthanstrangers，sotothosewhohavebeenourfriendsweoughttomakesomeallowanceforourformerfriendship，whenthebreachhasnotbeenduetoexcessofwickedness。
4
Friendlyrelationswithone\'sneighbours，andthemarksbywhichfriendshipsaredefined，seemtohaveproceededfromaman\'srelationstohimself。For(1)wedefineafriendasonewhowishesanddoeswhatisgood，orseemsso，forthesakeofhisfriend，or(2)asonewhowisheshisfriendtoexistandlive，forhissake；whichmothersdototheirchildren，andfriendsdowhohavecomeintoconflict。And(3)
othersdefinehimasonewholiveswithand(4)hasthesametastesasanother，or(5)onewhogrievesandrejoiceswithhisfriend；andthistooisfoundinmothersmostofall。Itisbysomeoneofthesecharactersticsthatfriendshiptooisdefined。
Noweachoftheseistrueofthegoodman\'srelationtohimself(andofallothermeninsofarastheythinkthemselvesgood；virtueandthegoodmanseem，ashasbeensaid，tobethemeasureofeveryclassofthings)。Forhisopinionsareharmonious，andhedesiresthesamethingswithallhissoul；andthereforehewishesforhimselfwhatisgoodandwhatseemsso，anddoesit(foritischaracteristicofthegoodmantoworkoutthegood)，anddoessoforhisownsake(forhedoesitforthesakeoftheintellectualelementinhim，whichisthoughttobethemanhimself)；andhewisheshimselftoliveandbepreserved，andespeciallytheelementbyvirtueofwhichhethinks。Forexistenceisgoodtothevirtuousman，andeachmanwisheshimselfwhatisgood，whilenoonechoosestopossessthewholeworldifhehasfirsttobecomesomeoneelse(forthatmatter，evennowGodpossessesthegood)；hewishesforthisonlyonconditionofbeingwhateverheis；andtheelementthatthinkswouldseemtobetheindividualman，ortobesomorethananyotherelementinhim。Andsuchamanwishestolivewithhimself；forhedoessowithpleasure，sincethememoriesofhispastactsaredelightfulandhishopesforthefuturearegood，andthereforepleasant。Hismindiswellstoredtoowithsubjectsofcontemplation。Andhegrievesandrejoices，morethananyother，withhimself；forthesamethingisalwayspainful，andthesamethingalwayspleasant，andnotonethingatonetimeandanotheratanother；
hehas，sotospeak，nothingtorepentof。
Therefore，sinceeachofthesecharacteristicsbelongstothegoodmaninrelationtohimself，andheisrelatedtohisfriendastohimself(forhisfriendisanotherself)，friendshiptooisthoughttobeoneoftheseattributes，andthosewhohavetheseattributestobefriends。Whetherthereisorisnotfriendshipbetweenamanandhimselfisaquestionwemaydismissforthepresent；therewouldseemtobefriendshipinsofarasheistwoormore，tojudgefromtheafore-mentionedattributesoffriendship，andfromthefactthattheextremeoffriendshipislikenedtoone\'sloveforoneself。
Buttheattributesnamedseemtobelongeventothemajorityofmen，poorcreaturesthoughtheymaybe。Arewetosaythenthatinsofarastheyaresatisfiedwiththemselvesandthinktheyaregood，theyshareintheseattributes？Certainlynoonewhoisthoroughlybadandimpioushastheseattributes，orevenseemstodoso。Theyhardlybelongeventoinferiorpeople；fortheyareatvariancewiththemselves，andhaveappetitesforsomethingsandrationaldesiresforothers。Thisistrue，forinstance，ofincontinentpeople；fortheychoose，insteadofthethingstheythemselvesthinkgood，thingsthatarepleasantbuthurtful；whileothersagain，throughcowardiceandlaziness，shrinkfromdoingwhattheythinkbestforthemselves。Andthosewhohavedonemanyterribledeedsandarehatedfortheirwickednessevenshrinkfromlifeanddestroythemselves。Andwickedmenseekforpeoplewithwhomtospendtheirdays，andshunthemselves；fortheyremembermanyagreviousdeed，andanticipateotherslikethem，whentheyarebythemselves，butwhentheyarewithotherstheyforget。Andhavingnothinglovableinthemtheyhavenofeelingoflovetothemselves。Thereforealsosuchmendonotrejoiceorgrievewiththemselves；fortheirsoulisrentbyfaction，andoneelementinitbyreasonofitswickednessgrieveswhenitabstainsfromcertainacts，whiletheotherpartispleased，andonedrawsthemthiswayandtheotherthat，asiftheywerepullingtheminpieces。Ifamancannotatthesametimebepainedandpleased，atalleventsafterashorttimeheispainedbecausehewaspleased，andhecouldhavewishedthatthesethingshadnotbeenpleasanttohim；forbadmenareladenwithrepentance。
Thereforethebadmandoesnotseemtobeamicablydisposedeventohimself，becausethereisnothinginhimtolove；sothatiftobethusistheheightofwretchedness，weshouldstraineverynervetoavoidwickednessandshouldendeavourtobegood；forsoandonlysocanonebeeitherfriendlytooneselforafriendtoanother。
5
Goodwillisafriendlysortofrelation，butisnotidenticalwithfriendship；foronemayhavegoodwillbothtowardspeoplewhomonedoesnotknow，andwithouttheirknowingit，butnotfriendship。
Thishasindeedbeensaidalready。\'Butgoodwillisnotevenfriendlyfeeling。Foritdoesnotinvolveintensityordesire，whereastheseaccompanyfriendlyfeeling；andfriendlyfeelingimpliesintimacywhilegoodwillmayariseofasudden，asitdoestowardscompetitorsinacontest；wecometofeelgoodwillforthemandtoshareintheirwishes，butwewouldnotdoanythingwiththem；for，aswesaid，wefeelgoodwillsuddenlyandlovethemonlysuperficially。
Goodwillseems，then，tobeabeginningoffriendship，asthepleasureoftheeyeisthebeginningoflove。Fornoonelovesifhehasnotfirstbeendelightedbytheformofthebeloved，buthewhodelightsintheformofanotherdoesnot，forallthat，lovehim，butonlydoessowhenhealsolongsforhimwhenabsentandcravesforhispresence；sotooitisnotpossibleforpeopletobefriendsiftheyhavenotcometofeelgoodwillforeachother，butthosewhofeelgoodwillarenotforallthatfriends；fortheyonlywishwelltothoseforwhomtheyfeelgoodwill，andwouldnotdoanythingwiththemnortaketroubleforthem。Andsoonemightbyanextensionofthetermfriendshipsaythatgoodwillisinactivefriendship，thoughwhenitisprolongedandreachesthepointofintimacyitbecomesfriendship-notthefriendshipbasedonutilitynorthatbasedonpleasure；forgoodwilltoodoesnotariseonthoseterms。Themanwhohasreceivedabenefitbestowsgoodwillinreturnforwhathasbeendonetohim，butindoingsoisonlydoingwhatisjust；whilehewhowishessomeonetoprosperbecausehehopesforenrichmentthroughhimseemstohavegoodwillnottohimbutrathertohimself，justasamanisnotafriendtoanotherifhecherisheshimforthesakeofsomeusetobemadeofhim。Ingeneral，goodwillarisesonaccountofsomeexcellenceandworth，whenonemanseemstoanotherbeautifulorbraveorsomethingofthesort，aswepointedoutinthecaseofcompetitorsinacontest。
6
Unanimityalsoseemstobeafriendlyrelation。Forthisreasonitisnotidentityofopinion；forthatmightoccurevenwithpeoplewhodonotknoweachother；nordowesaythatpeoplewhohavethesameviewsonanyandeverysubjectareunanimous，e。g。thosewhoagreeabouttheheavenlybodies(forunanimityabouttheseisnotafriendlyrelation)，butwedosaythatacityisunanimouswhenmenhavethesameopinionaboutwhatistotheirinterest，andchoosethesameactions，anddowhattheyhaveresolvedincommon。Itisaboutthingstobedone，therefore，thatpeoplearesaidtobeunanimous，and，amongthese，aboutmattersofconsequenceandinwhichitispossibleforbothorallpartiestogetwhattheywant；e。g。acityisunanimouswhenallitscitizensthinkthattheofficesinitshouldbeelective，orthattheyshouldformanalliancewithSparta，orthatPittacusshouldbetheirruler-atatimewhenhehimselfwasalsowillingtorule。Butwheneachoftwopeoplewisheshimselftohavethethinginquestion，likethecaptainsinthePhoenissae，theyareinastateoffaction；foritisnotunanimitywheneachoftwopartiesthinksofthesamething，whateverthatmaybe，butonlywhentheythinkofthesamethinginthesamehands，e。g。
whenboththecommonpeopleandthoseofthebetterclasswishthebestmentorule；forthusandthusalonedoallgetwhattheyaimat。
Unanimityseems，then，tobepoliticalfriendship，asindeeditiscommonlysaidtobe；foritisconcernedwiththingsthataretoourinterestandhaveaninfluenceonourlife。
Nowsuchunanimityisfoundamonggoodmen；fortheyareunanimousbothinthemselvesandwithoneanother，being，sotosay，ofonemind(forthewishesofsuchmenareconstantandnotatthemercyofopposingcurrentslikeastraitofthesea)，andtheywishforwhatisjustandwhatisadvantageous，andthesearetheobjectsoftheircommonendeavouraswell。Butbadmencannotbeunanimousexcepttoasmallextent，anymorethantheycanbefriends，sincetheyaimatgettingmorethantheirshareofadvantages，whileinlabourandpublicservicetheyfallshortoftheirshare；andeachmanwishingforadvantagetohimselfcriticizeshisneighbourandstandsinhisway；forifpeopledonotwatchitcarefullythecommonwealissoondestroyed。Theresultisthattheyareinastateoffaction，puttingcompulsiononeachotherbutunwillingthemselvestodowhatisjust。
7
Benefactorsarethoughttolovethosetheyhavebenefited，morethanthosewhohavebeenwelltreatedlovethosethathavetreatedthemwell，andthisisdiscussedasthoughitwereparadoxical。Mostpeoplethinkitisbecausethelatterareinthepositionofdebtorsandtheformerofcreditors；andthereforeas，inthecaseofloans，debtorswishtheircreditorsdidnotexist，whilecreditorsactuallytakecareofthesafetyoftheirdebtors，soitisthoughtthatbenefactorswishtheobjectsoftheiractiontoexistsincetheywillthengettheirgratitude，whilethebeneficiariestakenointerestinmakingthisreturn。Epicharmuswouldperhapsdeclarethattheysaythisbecausethey\'lookatthingsontheirbadside\'，butitisquitelikehumannature；formostpeopleareforgetful，andaremoreanxioustobewelltreatedthantotreatotherswell。Butthecausewouldseemtobemoredeeplyrootedinthenatureofthings；
thecaseofthosewhohavelentmoneyisnotevenanalogous。Fortheyhavenofriendlyfeelingtotheirdebtors，butonlyawishthattheymaykeptsafewithaviewtowhatistobegotfromthem；whilethosewhohavedoneaservicetoothersfeelfriendshipandloveforthosetheyhaveservedevenifthesearenotofanyusetothemandneverwillbe。Thisiswhathappenswithcraftsmentoo；everymanloveshisownhandiworkbetterthanhewouldbelovedbyitifitcamealive；andthishappensperhapsmostofallwithpoets；fortheyhaveanexcessivelovefortheirownpoems，dotingonthemasiftheyweretheirchildren。Thisiswhatthepositionofbenefactorsislike；forthatwhichtheyhavetreatedwellistheirhandiwork，andthereforetheylovethismorethanthehandiworkdoesitsmaker。Thecauseofthisisthatexistenceistoallmenathingtobechosenandloved，andthatweexistbyvirtueofactivity(i。e。bylivingandacting)，andthatthehandiworkisinasense，theproducerinactivity；heloveshishandiwork，therefore，becausehelovesexistence。Andthisisrootedinthenatureofthings；forwhatheisinpotentiality，hishandiworkmanifestsinactivity。
Atthesametimetothebenefactorthatisnoblewhichdependsonhisaction，sothathedelightsintheobjectofhisaction，whereastothepatientthereisnothingnobleintheagent，butatmostsomethingadvantageous，andthisislesspleasantandlovable。Whatispleasantistheactivityofthepresent，thehopeofthefuture，thememoryofthepast；butmostpleasantisthatwhichdependsonactivity，andsimilarlythisismostlovable。Nowforamanwhohasmadesomethinghisworkremains(forthenobleislasting)，butforthepersonactedontheutilitypassesaway。Andthememoryofnoblethingsispleasant，butthatofusefulthingsisnotlikelytobepleasant，orislessso；thoughthereverseseemstrueofexpectation。
Further，loveislikeactivity，beinglovedlikepassivity；andlovinganditsconcomitantsareattributesofthosewhoarethemoreactive。
Again，allmenlovemorewhattheyhavewonbylabour；e。g。thosewhohavemadetheirmoneyloveitmorethanthosewhohaveinheritedit；andtobewelltreatedseemstoinvolvenolabour，whiletotreatotherswellisalaborioustask。Thesearethereasons，too，whymothersarefonderoftheirchildrenthanfathers；bringingthemintotheworldcoststhemmorepains，andtheyknowbetterthatthechildrenaretheirown。Thislastpoint，too，wouldseemtoapplytobenefactors。
8
Thequestionisalsodebated，whetheramanshouldlovehimselfmost，orsomeoneelse。Peoplecriticizethosewholovethemselvesmost，andcallthemself-lovers，usingthisasanepithetofdisgrace，andabadmanseemstodoeverythingforhisownsake，andthemoresothemorewickedheis-andsomenreproachhim，forinstance，withdoingnothingofhisownaccord-whilethegoodmanactsforhonour\'ssake，andthemoresothebetterheis，andactsforhisfriend\'ssake，andsacrificeshisowninterest。
Butthefactsclashwiththesearguments，andthisisnotsurprising。Formensaythatoneoughttolovebestone\'sbestfriend，andman\'sbestfriendisonewhowisheswelltotheobjectofhiswishforhissake，evenifnooneistoknowofit；andtheseattributesarefoundmostofallinaman\'sattitudetowardshimself，andsoarealltheotherattributesbywhichafriendisdefined；for，aswehavesaid，itisfromthisrelationthatallthecharacteristicsoffriendshiphaveextendedtoourneighbours。Alltheproverbs，too，agreewiththis，e。g。\'asinglesoul\'，and\'whatfriendshaveiscommonproperty\'，and\'friendshipisequality\'，and\'charitybeginsathome\'；forallthesemarkswillbefoundmostinaman\'srelationtohimself；heishisownbestfriendandthereforeoughttolovehimselfbest。Itisthereforeareasonablequestion，whichofthetwoviewsweshouldfollow；forbothareplausible。
Perhapsweoughttomarkoffsuchargumentsfromeachotheranddeterminehowfarandinwhatrespectseachviewisright。Nowifwegraspthesenseinwhicheachschoolusesthephrase\'loverofself\'，thetruthmaybecomeevident。Thosewhousethetermasoneofreproachascribeself-lovetopeoplewhoassigntothemselvesthegreatershareofwealth，honours，andbodilypleasures；forthesearewhatmostpeopledesire，andbusythemselvesaboutasthoughtheywerethebestofallthings，whichisthereason，too，whytheybecomeobjectsofcompetition。Sothosewhoaregraspingwithregardtothesethingsgratifytheirappetitesandingeneraltheirfeelingsandtheirrationalelementofthesoul；andmostmenareofthisnature(whichisthereasonwhytheepithethascometobeusedasitis-ittakesitsmeaningfromtheprevailingtypeofself-love，whichisabadone)；itisjust，therefore，thatmenwhoareloversofselfinthiswayarereproachedforbeingso。Thatitisthosewhogivethemselvesthepreferenceinregardtoobjectsofthissortthatmostpeopleusuallycallloversofselfisplain；forifamanwerealwaysanxiousthathehimself，aboveallthings，shouldactjustly，temperately，orinaccordancewithanyotherofthevirtues，andingeneralwerealwaystotrytosecureforhimselfthehonourablecourse，noonewillcallsuchamanaloverofselforblamehim。
Butsuchamanwouldseemmorethantheotheraloverofself；atalleventsheassignstohimselfthethingsthatarenoblestandbest，andgratifiesthemostauthoritativeelementinandinallthingsobeysthis；andjustasacityoranyothersystematicwholeismostproperlyidentifiedwiththemostauthoritativeelementinit，soisaman；andthereforethemanwholovesthisandgratifiesitismostofallaloverofself。Besides，amanissaidtohaveornottohaveself-controlaccordingashisreasonhasorhasnotthecontrol，ontheassumptionthatthisisthemanhimself；andthethingsmenhavedoneonarationalprinciplearethoughtmostproperlytheirownactsandvoluntaryacts。Thatthisisthemanhimself，then，orissomorethananythingelse，isplain，andalsothatthegoodmanlovesmostthispartofhim。Whenceitfollowsthatheismosttrulyaloverofself，ofanothertypethanthatwhichisamatterofreproach，andasdifferentfromthataslivingaccordingtoarationalprincipleisfromlivingaspassiondictates，anddesiringwhatisnoblefromdesiringwhatseemsadvantageous。Those，then，whobusythemselvesinanexceptionaldegreewithnobleactionsallmenapproveandpraise；andifallweretostrivetowardswhatisnobleandstraineverynervetodothenoblestdeeds，everythingwouldbeasitshouldbeforthecommonweal，andeveryonewouldsecureforhimselfthegoodsthataregreatest，sincevirtueisthegreatestofgoods。
