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''Philia'' (; ), is one of the four ancient
Greek words for love
Ancient Greek philosophy differentiates main conceptual forms and distinct words for the Modern English word love: ''agápē'', ''érōs'', ''philía'', ''philautía'', ''storgē'', and ''xenía''.
List of concepts
Though there are more Gree ...
: ''philia'', ''
storge
Storge ( ; ), or familial love, refers to natural or instinctual affection, such as the love of a parent towards offspring and vice versa.
In social psychology, another term for love between good friends is ''philia''.
Extent
Storge is a ...
'', ''
agape
In Christianity, agape (; ) is "the highest form of love, charity" and "the love of God for man and of man for God". This is in contrast to philia, brotherly love, or philautia, self-love, as it embraces a deep and profound sacrificial love tha ...
'' and ''
eros
In Greek mythology, Eros (, ; grc, Ἔρως, Érōs, Love, Desire) is the Greek god of love and sex. His Roman counterpart was Cupid ("desire").''Larousse Desk Reference Encyclopedia'', The Book People, Haydock, 1995, p. 215. In the earli ...
''. In
Aristotle
Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of phil ...
's ''
Nicomachean Ethics
The ''Nicomachean Ethics'' (; ; grc, Ἠθικὰ Νικομάχεια, ) is Aristotle's best-known work on ethics, the science of the good for human life, which is the goal or end at which all our actions aim. (I§2) The aim of the inquiry is ...
'', philia is usually translated as "
friendship
Friendship is a relationship of mutual affection between people. It is a stronger form of interpersonal bond than an "acquaintance" or an "association", such as a classmate, neighbor, coworker, or colleague.
In some cultures, the concept o ...
" or
affection
Affection or fondness is a "disposition or state of mind or body" that is often associated with a feeling or type of love. It has given rise to a number of branches of philosophy and psychology concerning emotion, disease, influence, and sta ...
. The complete opposite is called a
phobia
A phobia is an anxiety disorder defined by a persistent and excessive fear of an object or situation. Phobias typically result in a rapid onset of fear and are usually present for more than six months. Those affected go to great lengths to avo ...
.
Aristotle's view
As Gerard Hughes points out, in Books VIII and IX of his ''
Nicomachean Ethics
The ''Nicomachean Ethics'' (; ; grc, Ἠθικὰ Νικομάχεια, ) is Aristotle's best-known work on ethics, the science of the good for human life, which is the goal or end at which all our actions aim. (I§2) The aim of the inquiry is ...
'' Aristotle gives examples of philia including:
:young lovers (1156b2), lifelong friends (1156b12), cities with one another (1157a26), political or business contacts (1158a28), parents and children (1158b20), fellow-voyagers and fellow-soldiers (1159b28), members of the same religious society (1160a19), or of the same tribe (1161b14), a cobbler and the person who buys from him. (1163b35)
All of these different relationships involve getting on well with someone, though Aristotle at times implies that something more like actual liking is required. When he is talking about the character or disposition that falls between obsequiousness or flattery on the one hand and surliness or quarrelsomeness on the other, he says that this state:
:has no name, but it would seem to be most like
hilia for the character of the person in the intermediate state is just what we mean in speaking of a decent friend, except that the friend is also fond of us. (1126b21)
This passage indicates also that, though broad, the notion of philia must be mutual, and thus excludes relationships with inanimate objects, though philia with animals, such as pets, is allowed for (see 1155b27–31).
In his ''
Rhetoric
Rhetoric () is the art of persuasion, which along with grammar and logic (or dialectic), is one of the three ancient arts of discourse. Rhetoric aims to study the techniques writers or speakers utilize to inform, persuade, or motivate parti ...
'', Aristotle defines the activity involved in philia (τὸ φιλεῖν) as:
:wanting for someone what one thinks good, for his sake and not for one's own, and being inclined, so far as one can, to do such things for him. (1380b36–1381a2)
John M. Cooper argues that this indicates:
:that the central idea of φιλíα is that of doing well by someone for his own sake, out of concern for ''him'' (and not, or not merely, out of concern for oneself).
.. Thusthe different forms of φιλíα
s listed abovecould be viewed just as different contexts and circumstances in which this kind of mutual well-doing can arise.
Aristotle takes philia to be both necessary as a means to happiness ("no one would choose to live without friends even if he had all the other goods"
155a5–6 and noble or fine (καλόν) in itself.
Types
Aristotle divides friendships into three types, based on the motive for forming them: friendships of utility, friendships of pleasure and friendships of the good.
Friendships of utility are relationships formed without regard to the other person at all. Buying merchandise, for example, may require meeting another person but usually needs only a very shallow relationship between the buyer and seller. In modern English, people in such a relationship would not even be called friends, but acquaintances (if they even remembered each other afterwards). The only reason these people are communicating is in order to buy or sell things, which is not a bad thing, but as soon as that motivation is gone, so goes the relationship between the two people unless another motivation is found. Complaints and quarrels generally only arise in this type of friendship.
At the next level, friendships of pleasure are based on pure
delight in the company of other people. People who
drink
A drink or beverage is a liquid intended for human consumption. In addition to their basic function of satisfying thirst, drinks play important roles in human culture. Common types of drinks include plain drinking water, milk, juice, smoothies a ...
together or share a
hobby
A hobby is considered to be a regular activity that is done for enjoyment, typically during one's leisure time. Hobbies include collecting themed items and objects, engaging in creative and artistic pursuits, playing Sport, sports, or pursu ...
may have such friendships. However, these friends may also part—in this case if they no longer enjoy the shared activity, or can no longer participate in it together.
Friendships of the good are ones where both friends enjoy each other's characters. As long as both friends keep similar characters, the relationship will endure since the motive behind it is care for the friend. This is the highest level of philia, and in modern English might be called true friendship.
:Now it is possible for bad people as well
s good
S, or s, is the nineteenth Letter (alphabet), letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the English alphabet, modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is English alphab ...
to be friends to each other for pleasure or utility, for decent people to be friends to base people, and for someone with neither character to be a friend to someone with any character. Clearly, however, only good people can be friends to each other because of the other person himself; for bad people find no enjoyment in one another if they get no benefit. (1157a18–21)
Not all bonds of philia involves reciprocity Aristotle notes. Some examples of these might include love of father to son, elder to younger or ruler to subject. Generally though, the bonds of philia are symmetrical.
If philia is a type of love,
Thomas Jay Oord
Thomas Jay Oord (born 1965) is a theologian, philosopher, and multidisciplinary scholar who directs a doctoral program at Northwind Theological Seminary and the Center for Open and Relational Theology. He formerly taught for sixteen years as a tenu ...
has argued that it must be defined so as not to contradict love. Oord defines philia as an intentional response to promote well-being when cooperating with or befriending others. And his philia is not only that meaning. The philia also gives humans authentic friendship.
Self-sufficiency
Aristotle recognizes that there is an apparent conflict between what he says about ''philia'' and what he says elsewhere (and what is widely held at the time) about the self-sufficient nature of the fulfilled life:
:it is said that the blessedly happy and self-sufficient people have no need of friends. For they already have
llthe goods, and hence, being self-sufficient, need nothing added. (1169b4–6)
He offers various answers. The first is based on the inherent goodness of acting for and being concerned for others ("the excellent person labours for his friends and for his native country, and will die for them if he must"
169a19–20; thus, being a wholly virtuous and fulfilled person necessarily involves having others for whom one is concerned—without them, one's life is incomplete:
:the solitary person's life is hard, since it is not easy for him to be continuously active all by himself; but in relation to others and in their company it is easier. (1170a6–8)
Aristotle's second answer is: "good people's life together allows the cultivation of virtue" (1170a12). Finally, he argues that one's friend is "another oneself," and so the pleasure that the virtuous person gets from his own life is also found in the life of another virtuous person. "Anyone who is to be happy, then, must have excellent friends" (1170b19).
Altruism and egoism
For Aristotle, in order to feel the highest form of philia for another, one must feel it for oneself; the object of philia is, after all, "another oneself." This alone does not commit Aristotle to egoism, of course. Not only is self-love not incompatible with love of others, but Aristotle is careful to distinguish the sort of self-love that is condemned (ascribed to "those who award the biggest share in money, honours, and bodily pleasures to themselves. For these are the goods desired and eagerly pursued by the many on the assumption that they are best"
168b17–19 from that which should be admired (ascribed to one who "is always eager above all to perform just or temperate actions or any other actions in accord with the virtues, and in general always gains for himself what is fine
oble, good 168b25–27. In fact:
:The good person must be a self-lover, since he will both help himself and benefit others by performing fine actions. But the vicious person must not love himself, since he will harm both himself and his neighbours by following his base feelings. (1169a12–15)
Aristotle also holds, though, that, as Hughes puts it: "
e only ultimately justifiable reason for doing anything is that acting in that way will contribute to a fulfilled life." Thus acts of ''philia'' might seem to be essentially egoistic, performed apparently to help others, but in fact intended to increase the agent's happiness. This, however, confuses the nature of the action with its motivation; the good person doesn't perform an action to help a friend because it will give her fulfillment; she performs it in order to help the friend, and in performing it makes both her friend and herself happy. The action is thus good both in itself and for the effect it has on the agent's happiness.
[See Hughes, pp 175–176. For an alternative view, see Kraut, chapter 2.]
See also
*
Blood brother
Blood brother can refer to two or more men not related by birth who have sworn loyalty to each other. This is in modern times usually done in a ceremony, known as a blood oath, where each person makes a small cut, usually on a finger, hand or ...
*
Love
Love encompasses a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most sublime virtue or good habit, the deepest Interpersonal relationship, interpersonal affection, to the simplest pleasure. An example of this range of ...
*
Selfless service
Selfless may refer to:
* Selflessness, the act of sacrificing one's own interest for the greater good
**Selfless service
* ''Selfless'' (album), a 1994 album by English industrial metal band Godflesh
*''Self/less'', a 2015 film starring Ryan Reyno ...
*
-phil-
The Greek root "-Phil-" originates from the Greek word meaning "love". For example, Philosophy (along with the Greek root "-soph-" meaning "wisdom") is the study of human customs and the significance of life. One of the most common uses of the roo ...
*
Philotes
In Greek mythology, Philotes (; Ancient Greek: ) was a minor goddess or spirit (''daimones'') personifying affection, friendship, and sex.
Family
Philotes was a daughter of the primordial deities Erebus (Darkness) and Nyx (Night).
Hesiod' ...
References
Sources and further reading
*
Aristotle
Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of phil ...
, ''
Nicomachean Ethics
The ''Nicomachean Ethics'' (; ; grc, Ἠθικὰ Νικομάχεια, ) is Aristotle's best-known work on ethics, the science of the good for human life, which is the goal or end at which all our actions aim. (I§2) The aim of the inquiry is ...
'', dual text, with translation by
H. Rackham
H is the eighth letter of the Latin alphabet.
H may also refer to:
Musical symbols
* H number, Harry Halbreich reference mechanism for music by Honegger and Martinů
* H, B (musical note)
* H, B major
People
* H. (noble) (died after 1279) ...
(Harvard University Press, 1934)
*Aristotle, ''Nicomachean Ethics'' trans.
Terence Irwin
Terence Henry Irwin FBA (; born 21 April 1947), usually cited as T. H. Irwin, is a scholar and philosopher specializing in ancient Greek philosophy and the history of ethics (i.e., the history of Western moral philosophy in ancient, medieval, and ...
(2nd edition; Hackett, 1999)
*
John M. Cooper, "Friendship and the Good" (''The Philosophical Review'' 86, 1977; pp. 290–315
*John M. Cooper, "Aristotle on the Forms of Friendship" (''The Review of Metaphysics'' 30, 1976–1977, pp. 619–648
*:References in the article are to a reprint of the preceding two papers, as "Aristotle on Friendship", in
Amélie Oksenberg Rorty
''Amélie'' (also known as ''Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain''; ; en, The Fabulous Destiny of Amélie Poulain, italic=yes) is a 2001 French-language romantic comedy film directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet. Written by Jeunet with Guillaume La ...
d. ''Essays on Aristotle's Ethics'' (University of California Press, 1980)
*
Gerard J. Hughes, ''Aristotle on Ethics'' (Routledge, 2001)
*
Richard Kraut
Richard Kraut is the Charles and Emma Morrison Professor in the Humanities at Northwestern University. , ''Aristotle on the Human Good'' (Princeton University Press, 1989)
*
Alexander Moseley
Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history.
Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...
,
Philosophy of Love,
The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'
*
Thomas Jay Oord
Thomas Jay Oord (born 1965) is a theologian, philosopher, and multidisciplinary scholar who directs a doctoral program at Northwind Theological Seminary and the Center for Open and Relational Theology. He formerly taught for sixteen years as a tenu ...
, ''
Defining Love: A Philosophical, Scientific, and Theological Engagement'', Brazos Press, 2010.
*
Thomas Jay Oord
Thomas Jay Oord (born 1965) is a theologian, philosopher, and multidisciplinary scholar who directs a doctoral program at Northwind Theological Seminary and the Center for Open and Relational Theology. He formerly taught for sixteen years as a tenu ...
, ''
The Nature of Love: A Theology'', Chalice Press, 2010.
External links
*
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Greek words and phrases
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Words and phrases with no direct English translation