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when it was contracted he will complain. This happens because all or most
men, while they wish for what is noble, choose what is advantageous; now it
is noble to do well by another without a view to repayment, but it is the
receiving of benefits that is advantageous. Therefore if we can we should
return the equivalent of what we have received (for we must not make a man
our friend against his will; we must recognize that we were mistaken at the
first and took a benefit from a person we should not have taken it from-since
it was not from a friend, nor from one who did it just for the sake of acting so-
and we must settle up just as if we had been benefited on fixed terms). Indeed,
one would agree to repay if one could (if one could not, even the giver would
not have expected one to do so); therefore if it is possible we must repay. But
at the outset we must consider the man by whom we are being benefited and
on what terms he is acting, in order that we may accept the benefit on these
terms, or else decline it.
It is disputable whether we ought to measure a service by its utility to the
receiver and make the return with a view to that, or by the benevolence of the
giver. For those who have received say they have received from their
benefactors what meant little to the latter and what they might have got from
others-minimizing the service; while the givers, on the contrary, say it was the
biggest thing they had, and what could not have been got from others, and
that it was given in times of danger or similar need. Now if the friendship is
one that aims at utility, surely the advantage to the receiver is the measure.
For it is he that asks for the service, and the other man helps him on the
assumption that he will receive the equivalent; so the assistance has been
precisely as great as the advantage to the receiver, and therefore he must
return as much as he has received, or even more (for that would be nobler). In
friendships based on virtue on the other hand, complaints do not arise, but the
purpose of the doer is a sort of measure; for in purpose lies the essential
element of virtue and character.
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14
Differences arise also in friendships based on superiority; for each expects
to get more out of them, but when this happens the friendship is dissolved.
Not only does the better man think he ought to get more, since more should
be assigned to a good man, but the more useful similarly expects this; they
say a useless man should not get as much as they should, since it becomes an
act of public service and not a friendship if the proceeds of the friendship do
1888
back to the
book The Complete Aristotle"
The Complete Aristotle
- Title
- The Complete Aristotle
- Author
- Aristotle
- Date
- ~322 B.C.
- Language
- English
- License
- PD
- Size
- 21.0 x 29.7 cm
- Pages
- 2328
- Keywords
- Philosophy, Antique, Philosophie, Antike, Dialogues, Metaphysik, Metaphysics, Ideologie, Ideology, Englisch
- Categories
- Geisteswissenschaften
- International
Table of contents
- Part 1; Logic (Organon) 3
- Categories 4
- On Interpretation 34
- Prior Analytics, Book I 56
- Prior Analytics, Book II 113
- Posterior Analytics, Book I 149
- Posterior Analytics, Book II 193
- Topics, Book I 218
- Topics, Book II 221
- Topics, Book III 237
- Topics, Book IV 248
- Topics, Book V 266
- Topics, Book VI 291
- Topics, Book VII 317
- Topics, Book VIII 326
- On Sophistical Refutations 348
- Part 2; Universal Physics 396
- Physics, Book I 397
- Physics, Book II 415
- Physics, Book III 432
- Physics, Book IV 449
- Physics, Book V 481
- Physics, Book VI 496
- Physics, Book VII 519
- Physics, Book VIII 533
- On the Heavens, Book I 570
- On the Heavens, Book II 599
- On the Heavens, Book III 624
- On the Heavens, Book IV 640
- On Generation and Corruption, Book I 651
- On Generation and Corruption, Book II 685
- Meteorology, Book I 707
- Meteorology, Book II 733
- Meteorology, Book III 760
- Meteorology, Book IV 773
- Part 3; Human Physics 795
- On the Soul, Book I 796
- On the Soul, Book II 815
- On the Soul, Book III 840
- On Sense and the Sensible 861
- On Memory and Reminiscence 889
- On Sleep and Sleeplessness 899
- On Dreams 909
- On Prophesying by Dreams 918
- On Longevity and the Shortness of Life 923
- On Youth, Old Age, Life and Death, and Respiration 929
- Part 4; Animal Physics 952
- The History of Animals, Book I 953
- The History of Animals, Book II translated 977
- The History of Animals, Book III 1000
- The History of Animals, Book IV 1029
- The History of Animals, Book V 1056
- The History of Animals, Book VI 1094
- The History of Animals, Book VII 1135
- The History of Animals, Book VIII 1150
- The History of Animals, Book IX 1186
- On the Parts of Animals, Book I 1234
- On the Parts of Animals, Book II 1249
- On the Parts of Animals, Book III 1281
- On the Parts of Animals, Book IV 1311
- On the Motion of Animals 1351
- On the Gait of Animals 1363
- On the Generation of Animals, Book I 1381
- On the Generation of Animals, Book II 1412
- On the Generation of Animals, Book III 1444
- On the Generation of Animals, Book IV 1469
- On the Generation of Animals, Book V 1496
- Part 5; Metaphysics 1516
- Part 6; Ethics and Politics 1748
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book I 1749
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book II 1766
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book III 1779
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book IV 1799
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book V 1817
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book VI 1836
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book VII 1851
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book VIII 1872
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book IX 1890
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book X 1907
- Politics, Book I 1925
- Politics, Book II 1943
- Politics, Book III 1970
- Politics, Book IV 1997
- Politics, Book V 2023
- Politics, Book VI 2053
- Politics, Book VII 2065
- Politics, Book VIII 2091
- The Athenian Constitution 2102
- Part 7; Aesthetic Writings 2156