ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that Aristotle’s account of the nature of friendship is more pluralistic and less moralizing than it is commonly taken to be. Aristotle introduces a distinction in three kinds of friendship in order to reconcile commonplace beliefs with the arguments of his own moralizing opponents who would deny the possibility of friendship between non-virtuous agents. However, when it comes to the value of friendship, we find that Aristotle’s eudaimonism, according to which virtuous activity constitutes happiness, informs his view that friends find greatest happiness in their shared virtuous activities. The value of virtuous activity is amplified when engaged in together with friends.
