Problem
From the reading of the fragment of Aristotle:
Aristotle Fragment of the Nicomachean Ethics (IX, 8, 11669a: 11-35) "According to this, the good man must be a lover of himself (because he will help himself by doing what is noble and will be useful to others), but the bad it should not be, because, following his evil passions, he will harm himself same as the neighbor. What a bad man should do, then, is not in harmony with what he does, while the good one does what he should do; because the intellect chooses, in each case, what is best for oneself, and the good man obey your intellect. It is also true that the good man does many things because of his friends and his country, even dying for them if necessary. He will abandon riches, honors and, in general, all the goods for which men fight, seeking for himself the noble; will prefer intense pleasure for a short period, which is not one weak for a long time, and live nobly a year that many aimlessly, and perform a beautiful and great action than many insignificant. This, perhaps, is also the case of those who give their lives for another: they choose for themselves the greatest right. He will also lavish his riches so that his friends have more; so the friend he will have riches, but he will have glory; for this, he reserves for himself the greater good. And with the honors and positions the situation is similar, because everything will yield to the friend, because this is beautiful for him and praiseworthy. It is natural, then, that he be considered good, since he prefers the noble to any stuff. It is even possible that he will give his friend the opportunity to act, and that he will be more Noble to have been the cause of his friend's action than of his own. Thus, in all praiseworthy actions the good man evidently appropriates a nobler part, and in this sense, it must, as we have said, be self-loving himself, and not like the common man."
Required
1) What is the ethical meaning of the invitation to be a good and "self-loving" man?
2) What are some of the consequences of selfishness?
3) Why do I consider myself to be friends with myself?