Friends, Enemies, and Prudent Alliances

Friendship, writes Aristotle, “seems to hold political communities together more than does justice, and legislators seem to care for it more than for justice.” 

What Aristotle means is that in a healthy and well-ordered political community, fellow citizens respect and care for one another willingly, without the threat of legal sanction. Of course, true friends will usually share the same opinions about what is just or right, because they are united in a common quest for the good life, which includes cultivating our social natures. Only beasts or gods can be truly alone.

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