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2. There seems to be a tension within Aristotle’s account of friendship: after claiming friendship involves mutually reciprocated love and goodwill for another’s sake, Aristotle says that those involved in friendships based on utility or pleasure befriend each other for the sake of what is advantageous or pleasant. Present Aristotle’s account of friendship and the tension. Can you propose a solution to the tension on Aristotle’s behalf. Identify passages that are relevant and discuss arguments and counterarguments.
5. Books I to V of the Nicomachean Ethics and Book X seem to present conflicting views on what is the happiest human life (eudaimonia). The first books suggest that the happiest life involves activity in accordance with the virtues of character (temperance, courage, justice, etc.) and the intellectual virtues (both practical and theoretical). Book X, on the other hand, says that the best life is the life of contemplative, theoretical inquiry (theoria). What is happiness, according to Aristotle? What are the marks of a happy life? Present the tension between the two accounts of happiness. Can the tension be resolved on Aristotle’s behalf. How? Present different possible solutions to the tension and evaluate them according to their textual and philosophical plausibility.