Friendship, Virtue, and Flourishing

Aristotle argues that happiness (eudaimonia) is not a feeling but a way of living—and that friendship is not optional, but essential to the good life.

He distinguishes three kinds of friendship: those based on utility (we help each other), those based on pleasure (we enjoy each other), and those based on virtue (we make each other better). Only the last endures. Only the last constitutes true friendship.

The questions cut close: Which of your relationships are based on utility, pleasure, or virtue? And can happiness exist in isolation—or does flourishing require others?