That love and friendship still very much exists between them, but it is different and unequal because they are unequal as parts of a socially stratified society. Aristotle makes a similar argument regarding the unequal friendship between a father and a son. The chapter upon friendship between unequals ends on an interesting note. The focus shifts somewhat to the topic of justice within friendships in general, and the question of justice within unequal relationships. In this section, Aristotle digs deeper into his question (and his answer) to whether or not there can exist friendship between unequals. Here, he begins to consider how justice and equality would exist in proportions in friendships among unequals. Ultimately, there is not a hopeful tone to the end of this line of thinking. It seems that while friendships among unequals can exist within certain parameters,...

Part of wanting to be friends with a person is the desire for them to remain relatively the same, and part is also truly wanting the best things in life for ourselves and not for others. He argues that this selfish desire is true with the example that friends are some of the best things in life, we want friends, and part of wanting friends is not wanting that person to change or leave, especially as a result of something good happening to them. For Aristotle, friendships among unequals comes down to power, desire, boundaries, and selfishness.