According to Aristotle, is it virtuous to love one's self? Why or why not?

According to Aristotle, virtue is essential to the pursuit of happiness. When it came to love,
Aristotle believed that self-love is a prerequisite to loving others. For some, this may not sound
right. Their first impression could be that Aristotle is promoting selfishness. He suggests that
self-love is an entirely proper emotion provided it is expressed in the love of virtue if you love
yourself, not just for the sake of loving yourself but for the benefit of others. Aristotle made it
clear that if self-love led one to acquire goods such as wealth and power, then this is immoral
because of the damage that it would cause to the community. Aristotle argued, "The defining
features of friendship that are found in friendships to one's neighbors would seem to be derived
from features of friendship toward oneself." " For a friend is taken to be someone who wishes
and does goods or apparent goods to his friend for the friend's own sake." Aristotle postulated a
unique vision on selfishness and its intimate relationship with self-love. The Greek philosopher
once said he "wondered whether a man should love himself most or if it is better to love others." 
 
Once Aristotle establishes the precepts of self-love, he starts in on an explanation of the two
meanings that he finds in selfishness. If he believes that the term has a pejorative and shameful
aspect, he also considers a much more elevated variable. The first kind of selfishness that
Aristotle shows us is focused on the love of worldly things. The philosopher equates this sort of
action with that of the village with the majority, which he calls the vulgar. This is undoubtedly
the result of an excessively classist society like the one that existed in Ancient Greece. In this
case, Aristotle identifies this first kind of selfishness as the most vivid worry over bodily
pleasures. (The Nichomachean Ethics of Aristotle, Ch.8)
 
The second kind of selfishness that Aristotle investigates is when a person dedicates himself,
body, and soul, to search for wisdom, justice, and beauty. They also need to satisfy their own
needs, which is their only goal in life. Nevertheless, the philosopher attributes great value to
these people. He considers the good man the most selfish, but this selfishness is not harmful but
rather noble. It is not vulgar, for a reason is the master of him. It will never be a passion, which is
the case with the previously mentioned group, only focused on material goods. According to
Aristotle, these noble but selfish men concentrate their efforts on practicing virtue, for this is
where the delight is to be found. And this attitude ends up enriching the entire community. This
is how they discover both personal benefit and service to others.
 
For the Greek philosopher, virtue is the highest of all goods that one can have. So, while the
virtuous man does what he must and works intelligently and with great reason, the wicked man
does it with profound discord between his duty and what he is doing. "The virtuous man will do
many things on behalf of his friends and his homeland." (Aristotle)
 
Aristotle uses the term "love" synonymously with "friendship" because the English rendering of
the Greek word, philia, can be translated into friendship or love. We see two essential elements
that comprise the Aristotelian view of love - self-love and doing good for others' sake and no
other reason. Aristotle describes friendships of utility and pleasure and argues that these
friendships do not demonstrate the true nature of love because one who truly loves themselves
would not enter a friendship that is merely concerned with using the other person to an end.
Aristotle's self-love ideas have caused some to consider him an ethical egoist. However, ethical
egoism argues that one should pursue their interests exclusively with no obligations to others.
Aristotle viewed love and its prerequisite of self-love in quite a different fashion. His focus was
what is best for the other, not merely what is best for us only, the community over the individual.
Aristotle's self-love was considered noble because he thought of himself first to love others
properly.
 
Here, it would be good to conclude that Aristotle finds the good and nobleman selfish. But from
his virtue and righteous behavior emerge gifts that his friends, homeland, and community benefit
from. He is a committed person who looks down upon material wealth but enjoys the benefits of
honor and dignity. For a person like Aristotle, the upright man prefers to enjoy a second of
pleasure to a life of indignity. He is generous and self-sacrificing when this is demanded of him.
He will be capable of abandoning everything for those who need him. He will have no problem
giving up the glory of action to another person. That is to say that he knows how to be selfish
and, at the same time, a person with elevated self-love.
 
 
F.H. Peters, M.A. (1906). The Nichomachean Ethics of Aristotle. https://www.stmarys-
ca.edu/sites/default/files/attachments/files/Nicomachean_Ethics_0.pdf