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fandomhigh2016-07-25 03:02 pm
endsthegame) wrote in fandomhigh2016-07-25 03:02 pm
Entry tags:
Practical Philosophy, Monday
Ender waited until everyone was seated on the lawn, as per usual; his eyes skipped over the class, lingering briefly on Mara if she was there, since she'd inspired today's class.
"Friendship," he said, "is a virtue which is ‘most necessary with a view to living … for without friends no one would choose to live, though he had all other goods’. At least, that's according to Aristotle, one of our most ancient philosophers. His definition of friendship is two people who bear good will towards each other, without this escaping their notice. With this, he meant that friendships had to be based on one of three things: an appreciation of each other's goodness, or pleasantness, or usefulness. Friendships based in full appreciation of each other and a willingness to wish each other well even when there's no immediate advantage in it for you, well, those were greatest of all."
He smiled faintly. "It sounds like a romantic ideal, but it's also good advice," he said. "Of course, Aristotle also believed there was such a thing as perfect friendship - to have a friend who is like another self. To appreciate each other's ability to exercise reason and virtue, that, he felt, was most important. You could certainly argue with that more strongly."
"One thing hasn't changed since Aristotle's time, though, and that's that we value such social bonds strongly," he continued. "Most cultures have some kind of fundamental belief about the necessity of friendship, though not everyone agrees on what that should be like. Or how to accomplish it. I'd like us to talk about this for a bit: have you ever had something approaching a 'perfect friend'? Do you believe you can sort friendships the way Aristotle did, or are things murkier? Is friendship that important to you?"
There. This shouldn't be too hard, surely. It was a nice day, even if the lawn smelled like cheese.
"Friendship," he said, "is a virtue which is ‘most necessary with a view to living … for without friends no one would choose to live, though he had all other goods’. At least, that's according to Aristotle, one of our most ancient philosophers. His definition of friendship is two people who bear good will towards each other, without this escaping their notice. With this, he meant that friendships had to be based on one of three things: an appreciation of each other's goodness, or pleasantness, or usefulness. Friendships based in full appreciation of each other and a willingness to wish each other well even when there's no immediate advantage in it for you, well, those were greatest of all."
He smiled faintly. "It sounds like a romantic ideal, but it's also good advice," he said. "Of course, Aristotle also believed there was such a thing as perfect friendship - to have a friend who is like another self. To appreciate each other's ability to exercise reason and virtue, that, he felt, was most important. You could certainly argue with that more strongly."
"One thing hasn't changed since Aristotle's time, though, and that's that we value such social bonds strongly," he continued. "Most cultures have some kind of fundamental belief about the necessity of friendship, though not everyone agrees on what that should be like. Or how to accomplish it. I'd like us to talk about this for a bit: have you ever had something approaching a 'perfect friend'? Do you believe you can sort friendships the way Aristotle did, or are things murkier? Is friendship that important to you?"
There. This shouldn't be too hard, surely. It was a nice day, even if the lawn smelled like cheese.
Re: Talk.
"I'll keep thorough logs of my attempt to find a middle ground."
Re: Talk.
Re: Talk.
They weren't big on praise back there, either.
"Thank you," she said, the words coming out sounding matter of fact and professional. "I do my best."
This was also true.