Book 9 / Chapter 9
Paragraph 2 - The Concept of Friendship in the Happy Life
Explanation - Part By Part
"What then is it that the first school means, and in what respect is it right? Is it that most identify friends with useful people?"
Aristotle is asking what the people who argue that a supremely happy person doesn’t need friends actually mean. Do they think of friends mainly as people who are useful—that is, friends who help fulfill practical needs or provide benefits? If that's the case, then their reasoning might make sense because someone who is truly happy and self-sufficient already has everything they need and wouldn’t rely on "useful" friends for support or assistance. This question sets up Aristotle's deeper discussion about the purpose of friendship and whether it is based only on utility or something more profound.
"Of such friends indeed the supremely happy man will have no need, since he already has the things that are good; nor will he need those whom one makes one's friends because of their pleasantness, or he will need them only to a small extent."
Aristotle is saying that a truly happy person—the "supremely happy man"—doesn't rely on friends who are merely "useful" because he already possesses everything he truly needs to live a good life. Similarly, he doesn't require friends who are kept around for the sake of their pleasantness (as sources of entertainment or comfort), or if he does, only in a very minimal way. This is because his life is already inherently satisfying and fulfilling—it doesn't depend on external factors, like additional pleasure provided by others, to be complete.
The point here is that someone who is fully self-sufficient in their happiness won't have the same need for relationships that primarily serve a transactional or superficial purpose.
"For his life, being pleasant, has no need of adventitious pleasure; and because he does not need such friends he is thought not to need friends."
In this part, Aristotle reflects on the idea that the supremely happy person—someone whose life is inherently fulfilling and pleasant—doesn't require "adventitious pleasure." By this, he means pleasure that comes from external, superficial sources, like friendships based purely on usefulness or entertainment. Since this happy person already finds joy and completeness in their life, they might seem to others as if they do not need friends at all. This perception arises because the type of friends being considered here are the ones valued only for what they can provide in terms of utility or added enjoyment, not the deep or virtuous connections that go beyond mere benefits.