- Does a happy person need friends? Or are they totally self-sufficient?
- Aristotle thinks it's weird to suppose that a person could be happy without the companionship of friends.
- First of all, how would the good person have anyone to do good deeds for, if he had no friends? (Recall: happy person = good person).
- And why would you want to have so many good things without having someone to share them with?
- Human beings are political: they live in community. A happy human couldn't be solitary.
- And hey, things are always better with friends. So yes, happy dudes still need friends.
- Sure, a happy person doesn't need anyone to be useful to him—but then again, useful "friendships" aren't really friendships at all.
- He also doesn't need friends to amuse him (his life is already totally awesome).
- But he does need friends who are good around him so he can contemplate their good works and find pleasure in them.
- There is also happiness in activity, and it is hard to be active without friends to motivate.
- It's natural for a serious or virtuous person to seek out like-minded people to spend time with. And it's always good to go with nature.
- Good, happy people also take pleasure simply in existing. Because hey, life is great (but it's also part of human nature to love being alive).
- Aristotle gets all "We think, therefore we are" in order to say that we're capable of perceiving that existence is a good thing.
- And since a friend is a second self, we learn to value their existence as much as our own.
- To sum up: a friend is a choiceworthy thing simply because they exist. And existence is pleasant and good.
- It is especially good when a friend acknowledges your existence and wants to spend time with you.