1、Friendship is an eternal (永恒的) theme (主題) in human history. A life without friendship is hard to imagine. But what is friendship? Read the following text and see if you can gain some new insights into the true meaning of friendship.What Is Friendship?Michele E. Doyle & Mark K. SmithWhen we 1) ap

2、proach the notion of friendship, our first problem is that there is a lack of 2) socially acknowledged criteria for what makes a person a friend. In one setting, we may 3) describe someone as a friend; in another, the label may seem less 4) appropriate. Therefore, people 5) tend to have a very thin

3、understanding of what friendship really means. To help us understand what friendship really means, we need to 6) review some classical views of friendship.One classical view of friendship 7) is provided by Aristotle, the famous ancient Greek philosopher. Aristotle 8) distinguishes between what he be

4、lieves to be genuine friendships and two other forms: one based on 9) mutual usefulness, the other on pleasure. So, according to Aristotle, we may find three kinds of friendship. Friendship based on utility. Utility is an 10) impermanent thing: it changes according to 11) circumstances. When the gro

5、und for friendship disappears, the friendship also 12) breaks up. Friendships of this kind seem to 13) occur most frequently between the elderly, because at their age what they want is not pleasure but utility. Friendships based on utility are also frequently found among those in middle or early lif

6、e who are 14) pursuing their own advantage. Such persons do not spend much time together, because sometimes they do not even like one another, and therefore feel no need of such an 15) association unless they are mutually useful. They 16) take pleasure in each others company only in so far as they h

7、ave hopes of advantage from it.Friendship based on pleasure. Friendship between the young is thought to 17) be grounded on pleasure, because the lives of the young are 18) regulated by their feelings, and their chief interests are in their own pleasure and the 19) opportunity of the moment. As they

8、grow up, however, their 20) tastes change too, so that they are quick to make and to break friendships. That is why they 21) fall in and out of friendship quickly, changing their 22) attitude often, even within the same day. Friendship based on goodness. Perfect friendship is based on goodness. Only

9、 the friendship of those who are good, and similar in their goodness, is perfect. The 23) conduct of good men is the same or similar. It is between good men that both love and friendship are 24) chiefly found and in the highest form. Such friendships are rare and they need time and 25) intimacy; for

10、 as the saying goes, true friends must 26) go through trials and tribulations together. And no two persons can accept each other and become friends until each has proved to the other that he 27) is worthy of love, and so won his trust. The wish for friendship may develop rapidly, but true friendship

11、 does not. Another classical view of friendship can be found in the writings of Cicero, an ancient Roman 28) statesman and orator. According to Cicero, true friendship is only possible between good men. He further 29) defines “the good” as “those whose actions and lives leave no question as to their

12、 honor, purity, equity, and 30) liberality; who are free from greed, lust, and 31) violence; and who have the courage of their convictions.” The friendship between good men, based on 32) virtue, does offer material benefits, but it does not seek them. All human beings are bonded together in a 33) co

13、mmunity of shared reason. Therefore, in friendships and relationships, those who 34) possess any superiority must regard themselves as equals of those who are less 35) fortunate. It is virtue that creates and 36) preserves true friendship.Thus, we may see that the 37) traditional idea of friendship

14、is made up of three 38) components: Friends must enjoy each others company; they must be useful to one another; and they must share a 39) commitment to the good. According to the classical views, virtuous friends are bound together, as they recognize each others moral 40) excellence. To perceive a friend, therefore, is to perceive oneself; and to know a friend is to know oneself. Each can be said to provide a 41) mirror in which the other may see himself. Thr