Tag: family

Living

Friends & Spouses: The Preparation

In my previous essay, I laid out Aristotle’s conception of perfect friendship and how it can form the backdrop for a healthy marriage. The essay then turned to exhorting fellow men on why they should care about perfecting themselves before marriage to better live out the sacrament. However, my previous essay was negligent in practical tips. While many other sites and books have offered countless advice on this, I offer some more here. I want to focus on cultivating the kind of soul that is capable of self-gift. Again, to reiterate my earlier point, marriage isn’t an institution that “fixes’ men. Yes, it can temper them and point their desires in the proper direction, but it’s not a switch where one instantly becomes the best version of self. It can only work on what’s already there. What does this look…

Living

Friends & Spouses: The Pursuit

Without too much fanfare, Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics remains a classic that ought to be studied over and over, even as the literature on it continues to grow at an alarming rate. This author apologizes for adding to the ever-growing slag-heap. However, examining Aristotle’s understanding of friendship is useful not only for those who wish to live friendship better, but also for a proper understanding of marriage. For this second part, John Paul II’s Theology of the Body serves as the most recent examination of this, albeit with a slight twist. Coupling Aristotle’s examination of friendship with John Paul II’s Theology of the Body can serve as an exhortation for both men and women more broadly, but particularly young men who wish to be married. Aristotle’s examination of virtue and the moral life ends with an examination of friendship, something that seems possible only after…