Aristotles Friendship Nicomachean Ethics

Aristotles Friendship Nicomachean Ethics Aristotle addresses the topic of friendship in Book 8 and 9 of his Nicomachean Ethics. Aristotle makes the argument that friends can be regarded as second selves. Aristotle says that just as virtuous behavior improves an individual, friends have the potential to generate improvements upon each others lives. The main gist of Aristotles argument is on the relationship between friendship and justice (102). He asserts that if people stay friends, they do not have any need for justice, but if they maintain justice, they also need friendship in addition. This paper shows that the arguments that Aristotle makes in support of this assertion is convincing. Additionally, the arguments made here explain both the ethical and political importance of friendship for Aristotle. Aristotle categorizes friendships into three categories: friendships of utility, friendships of pleasure, and friendships of the good (107). He asserts that the failure or success of ones friend is just like the ones own failure or success. Friendships of pleasure are based on delight in other peoples company alone. People who drink beer together are said to be in this friendship. However, when these people no longer enjoy sharing the activity, the friendship may come to an end. Friendships of utility are those friendships that are formed with no regard to the other person. When a person is buying merchandise, has to meet the seller, but the relationship that is required is rather shallow. The only reason why such people communicate is for them to transact business. Typically, quarrels may result in this friendship only. Friendship of the good involves the enjoyment of each others characters. As long as these friends maintain their similar characters, their relationship endures because its main motive is care for each other. This is friendship at its best, what in modern English may be referred to as true friendship. In Book 8, Aristotle says that without friends, nobody would choose life. Even those people in possession of all the goods that they need in life, including high office, need friends. They do not perceive the use of all such prosperity without an opportunity of beneficence, which can only be exercised in its most laudable form towards friends. Similarly, it is impossible to guard prosperity without friends. Aristotle also indicates that friends are the only refuge when misfortunes and poverty strike (108). For the young, friendships are a way of avoiding straying. For older people, it is useful for ministering to their needs as well as supplementing the various activities that could be failing as a result of weakness. For Aristotle, friendships appear to be holding states together, and lawgivers are more careful about friendships than for justice. Since unanimity seems to be like friendship, they aim at this most of the time, and strive to expel faction as their worst enemy. It is on this basis that he indicates that when men are friends, they need justice. However, when they are just, they require justice as well. The truest form of justice according to Aristotle is thought to be an enduring friendly quality (118). Friendships are considered not only necessary, but also noble, since people always praise those who show love for their friends. It is also thought to be a great thing to have many friends. The different kinds of friendships may be cleared if attention was shifted to the object of love, in which case only the lovable objects can be loved. Lovable objects are those that pleasant, good or useful. For this reason, friends are formed on the basis of the good and pleasure that is produced, which has to be useful. However, a clash emerges in this argument, especially in determining whether men love the good or what they consider good for them. Whatever is good for a man, though, becomes the object of his friendship. The clash arises in that each man loves not just what is good, but that seems good for him. For Aristotle, this makes no difference. Aristotle poses the question of whether goodwill in itself constitutes friendship. In this case, goodwill amounts to friendship only when the feeling is reciprocated (120). This is because, many people may have goodwill for those they have not necessarily judged to be useful or good. This raises the genuine difficulty of telling who friends really are without their feelings being communicated. To be friends, then, there is a need for feelings to be mutually recognized as wishes of goodwill to each other. In terms of justice, the friendship of the good is enough proof against slander. This is because it is difficult to trust anyone except a man who has been tested by oneself. When all the things that are demanded in friendship are found, true friendship is said to exist. However, nothing prevents various evils arising, such that the assertion that he would never wrong seems to be inaccurate. Considering the three forms of friendships, it is true to say that bad men will always be friends for the sake of utility or pleasure, while good men will always be friends for their own sake, that is, for the virtue of their goodness. In the latter case, these are friends without qualifications while others are accidental friends, for whom, the only thing that they share is the resemblance of needs. In efforts to explain why the truest friendship is the one that one of the good, Aristotle argues that the friendship that is without qualification pleasant or good seems to be desirable or lovable. Here, the impression made is that love is merely a feeling, and friendship a state of character. The mutual love for certain choices springs from the state of character of the friends. Men tend to wish well those they love, not because of a feeling, but as a result of a certain state of character. In loving friends, men indicate their love for what is good for themselves. Aristotle completes the logical analysis by saying that in becoming a friend, a man ideally becomes good to his friends (129). Each of them, then, both love what is good for himself, while at the same time making an equal return through goodwill and pleasantness. In this sense, friendship is said to be similar to the concept of equality. Incidentally, both the concepts of goodwill and pleasantness are found in the concepts of friendship and equality. Most people appear to like being loved instead of loving, mainly because of ambition. Aristotle supports this proposition by saying that this is the reason why most men love flattery; since the flatterer takes the position of inferiority in a friendship, or pretends to be such and to more be more loving than he is being loved. Most people aim at being loved since this is akin to being honored. With friendship, there is love. Therefore, friendship does a lot of justice by making everyone feel honored. If people did not the terms that bind them in various forms of friendships, there would be no need for justice. From the arguments that Aristotle makes, friendship and justice appear to be concerned with similar objects, and expressed between the same persons. In Aristotles view, there is thought to be a certain form of justice as well as friendship in every community. Friendship depends on community, and brothers and comrades tend to have many things in common, including, in some cases, property. Aristotle ventures into what appears like a contradiction when he says that claims of justice tend to differ. However, he makes his argument clear by giving examples of duties of parents to children, as well as those of brothers to each other, which he says are never the same. The same case applies to the duties of comrades and their fellow citizens. The same case applies to all other kinds of friendships that exist. On the basis of this argument, it is possible for one to draw a parallel between the principles of justice and the principles of friendship. It appears that where one applies, the other cannot apply. Injustice increases when it is exhibited towards people who are considered friends in the fuller sense. For instance, it sounds more offensive to defraud a comrade than to defraud a fellow citizen. It is also more offensive to deny ones brother assistance than to refuse to help a stranger. It is more terrible for one to kill ones mother than to kill any other citizen. The demands of justice, therefore, appear to increase with the insensitivity of the level of friendship. This implies that there is a limit of friendship to which justice does not apply. It also implies that when there is justice, friendship becomes a necessity, such that when the concept of justice is introduced into a scenario where friendship is at play, both elements tend to have an equal extension. Aristotle also assesses the position of friendship vis-Ã  -vis that of justice by bringing into perspective the concept of constitution (119). He identifies three kinds of constitutions: monarchy, aristocracy, and timocracy or what many people refer to as polity. The best constitution, according to Aristotle, is monarchy, while the worst is timocracy. Although both monarchy and timocracy are a one-man rule systems, the main difference between them is that the tyrant looks at his own advantage while the king looks to the advantage of his subjects. Each of these constitutions may involve friendship just as much as it involves justice. The friendship that exists between the king and all his subjects is dependent on the benefits conferred, and Aristotle likens it to the friendship of the father to his son, the only difference being the greatness of all the benefits conferred. The reason why Aristotle brings into perspective the aspect of constitutionality is to shed light on the concept of friendship as it applies to governments. His arguments make the concept of friendship to predominate that of justice. At the same time, he seems to suggest that justice cannot take place in a vacuum there has to be a friendly relationship of sorts between all the participants in the legal process within a given jurisdiction. In the deviation-forms of constitution, justice hardly exists; the same case applies to friendship. In the least, friendship exists in its worst form, such that in a form of government such as tyranny, there is too little or no friendship at all. This is because of the lack of anything to be shared between the ruler and the ruled. Even if justice was to exist in such a type of constitution, people would not appreciate it since the spirit of friendship is lacking. In Aristotles view, in every form of friendship, there has to be some form of association. For instance, the friendship that exists between brothers and sisters is born out of a shared parentage and upbringing. Aristotle also carries the association debate even further, noting that friendships form the basis of humankinds very existence. Particularly, he indicates that man has a tendency to form couples and households more readily than even cities. He also notes that unlike animals, mans associations in the form of couples are not for reproduction purposes only, but for many other purposes in life. To this extent, the tendency to form marriages arise from not just pleasure but also utility. Through such illustrations, Aristotle provides a clear proof of the power of friendship over justice (138). Although friendships of utility are always full of complaints, this does not necessarily mean that an injustice has been committed against the complainant; rather, it is normal for the process of bargaining and haggling to be characterized by tough talk and claims of unfair pricing. No form of justice can be said to have taken place in such engagements, regardless of the outcome of the bargaining process. Everything is left in the hands of the two people who have become friends of convenience in order to transact business. In Aristotles view, two types of justices are worth considering for purposes of assessing their applicability to friendships: unwritten and legal justice. The legal type is one where the terms are fixed, while the unwritten one is the one where moral values are conventionally applied. Aristotles explanation of the applicability of both unwritten laws and legal laws is enlightening on the ways in which friendship takes the place of justice. In the same light, friendship is identified as necessary where the formal rules of justice require to be applied, for instance in the legal laws. In other words, even where legal laws have been put in place for political reasons, friendship is needed in order for the ethical aspects of justice to be put into consideration. Work Cited Aristotle, The Nicomachean Ethics (Translated by Ross, David. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1980.

Oedipus Rex Essay

‘Oedipus the King,’ also known as ‘Oedipus Rex’ is one of the three Greek plays about Thebes written by Sophocles. In fact the plays form a trilogy (Oedipus Rex, Oedipus Colonus and Antigone) with the same characters. The plays are sometimes referred to as the ‘Oedipus Plays’ since Oedipus is the main character. Sophocles’ genius lies in the crafting of these plays, and their characters, almost bringing them to life. Throughout the course of ‘Oedipus Rex’ he expresses the power of fate and predestination that leads the characters astray. In fact, it was the stubborn belief in superstitions and prophecies that Sophocles highlights. Both the heroes, Oedipus and Creon are popular tragic heroes of Greek mythology. Oedipus is bright and has profound intellect, but at the same time is quick to make rash decisions without much thought. Creon though is depicted as a man of reason, much more subtle, unlike the brash Oedipus. The play begins with Oedipus ruling Thebes with a firm hand. The people believe him to be their savior because Oedipus is the one who saves them from the curse of the Sphinx, a half female half lion monster, by solving her riddle. King Lauis who ruled before Oedipus had left Thebes for a while under the kingship of Creon. But King Lauis is killed. Meanwhile Creon offers his sister’s hand in marriage to anyone who could rid the city of the Sphinx by solving her riddle. It is Oedipus who is able to solve it, marries Jocosta (Creon’s sister), and gains rule of part of Thebes. From the beginning Oedipus is aware of that there is some curse on him. He learns from an oracle that he is destined to kill his father and mate with his own mother. But it is his over-bearing belief in this curse that eventually results in his fall. At the beginning of the play Oedipus is shown to have great strength of character and will, and is a man of understanding. People have a high regard for him and fear him the same. But the one weakness that lied in Oedipus was his impulsiveness. Throughout the play are numerous instances where Oedipus makes rash decisions, and is quick to jump to conclusions without much thought. His vanity leads him to kill Lauis over a mere brawl. Later when the blind prophet Tiresias warns him not to investigate the murder of Lauis, Oedipus is incensed and argues that Tiresias himself is the murderer. When the prophet reveals the truth, Oedipus is enraged, accusing the old man of corruption. He is bent on believing that Creon wants to seize power until he realizes that Creon himself chooses not to rule even thought he has the right to a third of Thebes. When Jocasta kills herself, Oedipus gouges his eyes with her broaches blinding himself in despair. And when he does learn the truth, he demands his own exile out of shame and disgust. Sophocles portrays Oedipus as a man of honor and dignity, a matter of prime importance to ancient Greeks. He was also a man of great intellect – another feature admired by them. The riddle of the Sphinx was baffling to say the least, but it was only Oedipus who could solve it. What is the creature that walks on four legs in the morning, two legs at noon, and three in the evening? † To this Oedipus replies, â€Å"Man† (who crawls on all fours as a baby, walks upright later, and needs a walking stick in old age)[1]. Oedipus, in fact was a typical hero in every sense of the word. He was short-tempered, proud, and stubborn, with unflinching dedication and loyalty. He had a strong conscience, an intelligent mind and passion to do good for his people and his city. But worst of all was his inability to see clearly. Sophocles describes this by using a theme of ‘sight and blindness’ in the play often. Oedipus can see, but remains blind to reality. In contrast, the old prophet can see clearly even though he is blind. Such themes were often a part of Greek mythology. But the theme of blindness has special importance in Oedipus Rex – at times literal, at times metaphorical. Later when Oedipus learns that Jocasta has killed herself, and when he does learn that he fulfilled the prophecy, he blinds himself out of guilt, and anger at not being able to see or think clearly. Oedipus is over-bearing in many ways, and it is his over-bearing sense of self that misleads him so easily. After blinding himself he leaves to spend the rest of his life in exile, with the aid of his daughter Antigone. Creon, Jocosta’s brother, and Oedipus’ relative and friend stands in sharp contrast to Oedipus. In Oedipus Rex Creon plays the role of a calm and controlled man with a mind that reasons. Creon is a close friend of Oedipus, but that too does not keep the headstrong Oedipus from suspecting that Creon wanted to rule Thebes. Creon though claims that he is not interested in ruling Thebes, and that Oedipus is only a king in name, since he has the right to as much of Thebes as Oedious himself. He represents a semblance of diplomacy and stability. In fact, these were the very things lacking in Oedipus. Creon also shows traits of being much more reasonable. An example is when Creon brings news from the oracle and wishes to tell it to Oedipus is person. Oedipus though is insistent that it be told in public, not keeping anything from anyone. One can see various instances where the two heroes are opposing in their approaches, and manner of dealing with situations. While Oedipus can be called childish and haughty, Creon was much more clear-headed and foresighted. But there were some things that the two heroes shared in common. Both had won the hearts of the people, were respected, and loved the city of Thebes. They were also very keen followers of the Greek gods. Since most Greek mythology was built around gods and goddesses, they played a crucial role ion determining the course of the story. In fact the theme of gods and of predestination plays a key role in Oedipus Rex. Oedipus is always wary of his curse told to him by an oracle. He seeks help from Apollo to determine the cause of the plague. Creon too follows the will of the gods. When Oedipus demands to be exiled, Creon waits for approval from the gods before taking any action. It is worth mentioning here that if Oedious Rex and Antigone are compared, one can see that both the kings accuse the old prophet Tiresias of corruption when he tells them that the gods are against them. But there is also a clear difference that follows. While Creon tries to change, and amend his wrongdoings, Oedipus remains ‘blind’ and refuses to acknowledge his mistakes. Eventually, Oedipus is left wandering blind and lonely, while he leaves his daughters in Creon’s care.

SME Challenges to Access to Finance

1. SMEs usually have limited financial resources compared to a large company. Often it is hard to finance the standard model for software process improvement (SPI) activities. They try to avoid excessive overhead for the full custom standard process implementation. 2. The proven best practices for the large companies might be too expensive or time consuming to perform in SMEs because of their limited resources and business model. 3. The majority of small companies are independently financed. That causes a tight financial situation for many small businesses. So they can’t always afford to buy required expertise that possesses the skills required in a particular position. 4. A first step toward process improvement is identifying the strengths and weaknesses of organization software processes. For this, an assessment to examine the processes against a reference model which helps to determine the processes capability to meet the required quality, cost, and schedule goals is required, but small companies have difficulty running those. 5. The small size of a company not only causes for the challenges of networking, marketing and business issues for small software companies. It also creates problems for gaining and leveraging technological know-how. 6. Large companies can improve the work efficiency using all needed toolkits. Small company also need these tools in every step of software process but high licensing costs often put their project cost over expectable levels. 7. SMEs suffer from the lack of literature and publications describing efforts on an improvement initiative. But adoption of internationally accepted software process practices is essential for the success of all software companies to compete in the global software development market. 8. Many SMEs have multiple business operations like service, product, and consultancy. A given employee may have to change the projects more frequently. This leads to additional challenges to improve the required level of competence for different projects with different technologies. 9. A given employee of SMEs may simultaneously play multiple roles. For that, he may ignore tasks or consider many tasks as low priority. Thus many important tasks may be left undone. In some cases, these tasks may be contradictory or mutually exclusive (e. g. A person is responsible for product cost reduction and improvement of customer service simultaneously). 10. In SMEs the average project duration is shorter than in large companies. Manager faces challenges to reallocate employees more frequently to different projects.

Essay about The Development of Cognitive Psychology

Describe the ways in which philosophy, linguistics, and artificial intelligence have contributed to the development of cognitive psychology. Cognitive psychology is the segment of psychology that explores internal mental processes such as visual processing, memory, problem solving, and language. Cognitive psychology also focuses on information processing and the method of how people store, manipulate and use information (Barsalou, 2005). With an emphasis on thought processes, cognitive psychology also explores and discusses thinking and knowledge acquisition as conceptual terms. Well known contributors to the fields, such as Jean Piaget, are especially concerned with the development of cognition and formed stage theories to explain†¦show more content†¦Linguistics has impacted cognitive psychology as the quest to understand language acquisition and the structure of language itself is undertaken. Linguistics is a complex and multifaceted; it includes language structural patterns and language development (Barsalou, 2005). The process of language development is complicated and dense, as the study of language is examined; the role of cognition is inherently examined and analyzed. Sternberg (2006) also explores language as an innate process and presents the idea that humans are born ready for language as a biological and cognitive process. The impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on cognitive psychology is an extremely interesting and relevant idea. New trends in technology and the explosion of new devices that think and learn allow cognitive psychologists the opportunity to examine some process and simulations executed by AI under constructed conditions (Sternberg, 2006). Also psychologists can utilize AI to test and develop theories and methods that would not be practical in real time. 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