Aristotle’s categories of friendships

In Aristotle’s work Nicomachean ethics he talks about the archetypes of friendships. He believes that their are only three true ways in which people maintain relationships in their lives.  The three being friendships of pleasure, utility, and virtue.  The first being pleasure is described as a relationship that is most common between children and that is because it revolves around some sort of shared pleasure. For instance one becomes friends with their soccer teammates because they see them every day at practice, but once one leaves the team they no longer have anything pleasurable holding the relation together.  Friendships of utility are the most common of the three because of the nature of the relationship.  An example would be how people interact with their neighbors, you treat them respectfully and kindly in passing but you also don’t want to hear their whole life story.  Lately we have friendship of virtue which is the least common but most important. Friendships of virtue are relationships that are formed and extended in an attempt to support each other in growth and goal fulfillment.  It is a two sided relationships where both parties deeply care or each other and want the best for each other.  I would agree with Aristotle categories of friendship because all my relationships can be categorized into those three genres.  My friendships of pleasure are my street basketball friends because when we are together playing basketball we are all friendly but we don’t spend anytime together off the court. For my friendships of utility I instantly think of my co-workers and classmates because we are kind and respectful to each other but if we didn’t work together or have to do group assignments their wouldn’t be a relationship at all. Lastly for friendships of virtue I think about my old school friends who I still have contact with.  We are constantly pushing each other to do better and be better people. Aristotle also talks about the “limits’ to the categories. He believes that certain people relationships are never able to become friends. Such as a boss and employee, their relationship is based in one having authority over the other which makes it impossible for them to truly be friends. I think that the three categories of friendships makes a lot of sense and can help people to realize the extent of their relationships with certain people which is very beneficial to everyone.