Aristotle identifies three motivations of friendship: utility, pleasure and good. It postulates that when people seek friendship, they seek someone who is worthy of their affection based on one of these three reasons. Whether his argument is true is debatable. Many may object to this simplification of such a complex topic. However, his theory carries weight in the context of Book VIII. Friendships based on the mutual usefulness of two people are considered by Aristotle to be the lowest form of friendship (Aristotle 220). Such friendships are based on the fact that each receives something from the other, be it material, such as money, or intangible, such as knowledge. They look for those who seem good to them (i.e. people who can help them achieve their goals) (Aristotle 217). Since friendships are only based on what each receives from the other, the relationship ends when they are no longer mutually beneficial to each other (Aristotle 219). This type of friendship is easily visible today. For example, two businessmen collaborate to create a company together. One provides the necessary technical expertise, while the other offers a broad base of networking contacts. They form a friendship, believing that each can further help the growth (i.e. profit) of the company. However, if one no longer contributes to the health of the company, the partnership will end. Some might argue that this type of relationship isn't a friendship at all, since the affection they have for each other is actually due to what that person provides. The second type of friendship is based on pleasure. Aristotle claims that “the friendship of young people seems to be based on pleasure” (Aristotle 219). These relationships are ephemeral. What I... half of the paper... a report to study together. According to Aristotle's definition, they would have a friendship based on utility. However, these people might be better described as acquaintances, unless they have a relationship that goes beyond studying for that class. The same goes for colleagues. According to Aristotle's definition, the people you work with would be considered your friends, because you maintain a relationship based on your mutual usefulness. However, the relationship between colleagues rarely continues outside of work and therefore cannot be considered friendship. Aristotle's theory of three types of friendship is acceptable as a working definition of what friendship is, but the depth and complexity of emotions contained in friendship go beyond its definition. Works Cited Aristotle. Nicomachean Ethics. Trans. Martin Ostwald. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 1999.