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APA Committee
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| Topic: | Friendship Exercise |
| Name: | Juli Eflin |
| Institution: | Ball State University |
| E-mail: | jeflin2@bsu.edu |
| Date Submitted: | 9/13/2000 |
This exercise helps students see how well they understand ethical theories; but it also makes them question whether they live by the ethics they claim to hold.
Friendship
You have a circle of friends with whom you spend time. You have a lot of fun, and because you have known each other since you took philosophy together you are comfortable in the group and with each member. On a fine summer weekend all of you go on a camping trip together. There is plenty of time for extended discussions. One such discussion is on the nature of friendship. All of you agree that friendship is reciprocal (i.e. it is a two-way street), but as the discussion continues, you begin to see some underlying presuppositions held by your friends.
Here is what you realize about each of your friends' presuppositions:
1. Ben appears to be a straight-forward utilitarian. He believes that to act morally, he must maximize the good much as Mill would have it. He is not an egoist, but believes that if a friendship is "sub-optimal" the friendship should be terminated.
2. Charlie is also a utilitarian, but rather than looking at each friendship and asking whether it maximizes the good, he claims that he has a "pro-friendship disposition." By that he means 'being disposed to have friends', or 'valuing friendship as an instrument for maximizing the overall good'.
3. Deb has a list of intrinsic goods. She can name off what she considered to be intrinsically valuable and friendship is among them.
4. Elizabeth is a consistent Kantian and has even memorized both formulations of the Categorical Imperative. Furthermore, she takes duty to the Categorical Imperative (respect for the moral law) as duty to a friend.
5. Fran is a quasi-Aristotelian, maintaining that we should all aim at eudemonia. But Fran believes that friendship is part of the good life; friendship is part of the eudemonic life. She has even memorized a quote from Aristotle: "Friendship requires that you take your friend's good as your own."
Once you are in your sleeping bag and Ben is softly snoring, you begin to reflect on the evening's conversation. Your mind floats back to the distinction between a good being instrumentally valuable and a good being intrinsically valuable. You know that all of your friends consider your friendship valuable, but you begin to feel uncomfortable and mull over the implications of your friends' presuppositions. At the end of your reflections, do you still feel as close to all five friends? Does your friendship with any of them feel less secure? Explain your reasoning.