亚里士多德论友谊 Aristotle on Friendship

[古希腊]亚里士多德/Aristotle

The ancients listed friendship among the highest of virtues. It was an essential element in the happy or fully flourishing life.“For without friends,”Aristotle says,“no one would choose to live, though he had all other goods.”Words worth remembering in a world of perishable“goods.”

According to Aristotle, friendship either is, or it involves, a state of character, a virtue. There are three kinds of friendship. These are based on pleasure in another's company（friendship of pleasure），or on usefulness in association（friendships of utility），or on mutual admiration（friendships in virtue）.All are essential to the good life, and the best sorts of friends will not only admire each other's excellence, but take pleasure in each other's company and find their association of mutual advantage. Here is a portion of Aristotle's classic discussion.

As the motives to Friendship differ in kind, so do the respective feelings and Friendships. The species then of Friendship are three, in number equal to the objects of it, since in the line of each there may be“mutual affection mutually known.”

Now they who have Friendship for one another desire one another's good according to the motive of their Friendship;accordingly they whose motive is utility have no Friendship for one another really, but only insofar as some good arises to them from one another.

And they whose motive is pleasure are in like case:I mean, they have Friendship for men of easy pleasantry, not because they are of a given character but because they are pleasant to themselves. So then they whose motive to Friendship is utility love their friends for what is good to themselves;they whose motive is pleasure do so for what is pleasurable to themselves;that is to say, not insofar as the friend beloved is but insofar as he is useful or pleasurable. These Friendships then are a matter of result:since the object is not beloved in that he is the man he is but in that he furnishes advantage or pleasure as the case may be.

Such Friendships are of course very liable to dissolution if the parties do not continue alike:I mean, that the others cease to have any Friendship for them when they are no longer pleasurable or useful. Now it is the nature of utility not to be permanent but constantly varying:so, of course, when the motive which made them friends is vanished, the Friendship likewise dissolves;since it existed only relatively to those circumstances.

That then is perfect Friendship which subsists between those who are good and whose similarity consists in their goodness:for these men wish one another's good in similar ways;insofar as they are good（and good they are in themselves）；and those are specially friends who wish good to their friends for their sakes, because they feel thus toward them on their own account and not as a mere matter of result;so the Friendship between these men continues to subsist so long as they are good;and goodness, we know, has in it a principle of permanence.

Rare it is probable Friendships of this kind will be, because men of this kind are rare. Besides, all requisite qualifications being presupposed, there is further required time and intimacy:for, as the proverb says, men cannot know one another“till they have eaten the requisite quantity of salt together”；nor can they in fact admit one another to intimacy, much less be friends, till each has appeared to the other and been proved to be a fit object of Friendship. They who speedily commence an interchange of friendly actions may be said to wish to be friends, but they are not so unless they are also proper objects of Friendship and mutually known to be such:that is to say, a desire for Friendship may arise quickly but not Friendship itself.

古人将友谊视为最好的美德。友谊是幸福或生命旺盛的基本要素。亚里士多德说：“因为没有朋友，人不会选择生存，即使他拥有其他所有的好东西。”在当今道德败坏的世界，这些话值得我们去牢记。

根据亚里士多德所说，友谊是涉及一种品格、一种德行的状态。友谊可分为三种：以与他人为伴的快乐为基础的友谊（快乐的友谊），以与他人结交的裨益为基础的友谊（裨益的友谊），以相互的倾慕之情为基础的友谊（有德行的友谊）。这三种友谊都是幸福生活的基本条件，所有这些对于健康的生活均是必不可少的。最好的朋友不仅仅是倾慕彼此的优点，而且要在彼此的交往中寻找快乐，寻找共同的裨益。下面是亚里士多德的一段经典演说。

由于建立友谊的动机各不相同，所以人们各自的情感和友谊也不尽相同。因此，友谊有三种类型，其主体对象也有三种，因为在每一种友谊中，彼此双方可能都有与之相一致的“相互明了的共同感情”。

就建立友谊的动机来看，那些以友谊而互相对待的人，需要从对方那里获得利益。相应的，那些以获益为目的的人，除非能从对方那里得到一定的利益，否则，彼此间是不会存在真正的友谊的。

而以快乐为动机的人同样如此。我指的是，他们与诙谐幽默之人结交，并不是因为对方本身的性格，而是因为他们能给自己带来欢乐。所以，他们建立友谊的动机就在于，利用关爱朋友来使自己快乐，也就是说，他们不是爱其朋友本身，而是因为他们有用或能带来欢乐。

当然，如果友谊双方不再有类似之处，这样的友谊很容易解体。我的意思是说，如果友谊中的一方不能再带来快乐，或提供益处，另一方便会停止他们的友谊。功利的本性并不是永恒的，而是持续变化的。所以，当他们建立友谊时的动机消失时，友谊自然也要解体，因为它只能在相应的环境中存在。

那些品德高尚的人、有相似德行的人之间存在的友谊才是完美的，因为这些人要求对方有类似的德行。而且在他们之间，有好的德行（当然他们自身也有好的德行）。而那些因为希望朋友有德行而建立友谊的人，尤其可称得上朋友，因为他们觉得这样正是发自他们自身内心，而并非仅仅为了一种结果。所以，只要他们保持美德，他们之间的友谊会恒久。而我们知道，德行具有恒久性。

这种友谊很少，因为这样的人很少。另外，除了要具备这些素质以外，还需要时间和密切的来往。因为正如常言所说的那样，只有一起吃过很多盐的人才能彼此熟知。而且，只有彼此相互肯定，相互欣赏，他们才能亲密接触，才能成为朋友。那些很快准备友好交往的人，或许我们就可以说他们希望成为朋友。但是，如果他们不是合适的对象，也不能得到对方承认的话，他们就不是朋友。也就是说，对交友的渴望也许能够很快引发交友，而不是友谊。

心灵小语

不管是国王还是平民，都需要友情的滋润。友谊有时像一面镜，帮我们认识自己；有时像一扇窗，帮我们认识世界。

词汇笔记

virtue['v?：tju:]n.美德，优点；贞操

She is a paragon of virtue.

她是美德的典范。

furnish['f?：ni?]v.供给，提供，装设

Please furnish the necessary information to us.

请给我们提供必要的情报。

dissolve[di'z?lv]v.溶解，解散

Ice dissolves in the warm weather.

冰在温暖的天气中融化了。

requisite['rekwizit]adj.必要的，需要的

He hasn't got the requisite qualifications for this job.

他不具备这项工作所需的资格。

小试身手

友谊是幸福或生命旺盛的基本要素。

译______________________________

最好的朋友不仅仅是倾慕彼此的优点，而且要在彼此的交往中寻找快乐，寻找共同的裨益。

译______________________________

因为正如常言所说的那样，只有一起吃过很多盐的人才能彼此熟知。

译______________________________

短语家族

According to Aristotle, friendship either is, or it involves, a state of character, a virtue.

according to：按照，根据

造______________________________

……has appeared to the other.

appear to：似乎，好像，出现

造______________________________