At the end of chapter 7 book VIII, Aristotle talks about wishing the good of a friend within complete friendship. It is obvious that we should wish for the other's well-being for the sake of the other. However, what about wishing the greatest good for the other regardless of the self? Aristotle believes that we should not wish the greatest good for another (becoming a god) because then that would remove the person from our friendship. We would no longer have them as a friend and would not be able to virtuously benefit each other. Thus, we should not wish for all of the greatest goods upon another, because we wish for our own good most of all. Aristotle suggests that complete friendship is wishing the greatest good of becoming a god upon another only if you are also to receive the same good.
I disagree with this particular aspect of Aristotle's friendship, because it seems to go against the Christian notion of charity for our fellow human brothers and sisters. In the Christian tradition, wishing that another person go to heaven is similar to Aristotle's good of becoming a god. However, we are called to wish for another's reaching of heaven regardless of our own particular circumstance through charity. By loving our neighbor as we would want to be loved, we should want everyone to reach heaven independent of the self. This is drastically different from Aristotle's perspective which is more self-oriented in the sense of gaining goods for yourself first. The only other explanation for this text is that Aristotle is talking more about human nature within friendship instead of this being complete friendship, but I do not see it as such.
-BaylorBear16
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