Unit 5: Interpersonal Relationships (ETHICS)

Interpersonal Relationships: Aristotle - Friendship:

What are the 3 kinds of friendships Aristotle distinguishes? What are their characteristics and what are the complaints they cause?

The three different types of friendships Aristotle distinguishes are useful, pleasurable, and virtuous friendships. Useful friendships are relationships where two or more people come together to work together to accomplish a goal, like teammates and coworkers. This is also known as the friendship of utility. There is a moral and a legal concept to these friendships, and when they're legal, complaining and fighting are more likely because people don't have any principles that fight against those notions. People in these friendships often don't truly like to spend time with each other. Pleasurable friendships are relationships where two or more people enjoy each other's company when engaging in certain activities. For example: friends you play games with, friends you go out to dinner with, and friends you visit social events with. Useful and pleasurable friendships are similar because they have upsides and downsides. They're casual, easy to form, and have simple foundations, but they also are easy to break down and disband. Virtuous friendships are relationships where two or more people help each other become better people when they're together. Virtuous friends concern the character and flourishing of each other, and each person wants the other to be a good person with a good life.

Interpersonal Relationships: Aristotle - Friendship:

Do you agree with Aristotle that one cannot have a perfect friendship with many people? Why/Why not? What is your experience?

I agree with Aristotle that you can't have perfect friendships with many people because it's tough to have such a strong connection with many people and spend quality time with each person at the same time. Virtuous friendships take a long time to develop and require a very deep understanding of each other while also devoting a great deal of time to spend together. It requires a certain type of love that is exclusive

Interpersonal Relationships: Aristotle - Friendship:

Why does Aristotle's state that "the friendship of base men is depraved"? What is your position?

Aristotle states that "the friendship of base men is depraved" because people who build their friendships based on easily changeable things like pleasures and goals can often find themselves friendless when those goals don't match others or when happiness runs out. I believe this is true because one needs to have a stronger foundation of trust, a sense of commonality, and equal caring for their friends to truly build a strong bond with them. True friends also look out for each other's well-being and they help each other become better people.

Interpersonal Relationships: Ringer - Looking out for # 1:

What is Ringer's definition of a friend and friendship, and what are the foundations of friendship? Do you agree with Ringer? Why? Why not?

Ringer's definition of a friend is someone who fills a need for you and then you do the same for them. The foundations of friendship are built on admiration/respect and rational selfishness. I agree that you need to have mutual respect to be friends, but I don't believe that you need rational selfishness as well. I think friendship requires a certain level of selflessness to be strong.

Interpersonal Relationships: Ringer - Looking out for # 1:

What model does Ringer use to describe friendship? What do you think of it? Does your experience with your friends support Ringer’s view?

Ringer uses the Weight-and-Balance Happiness Scale to describe friendship. It explains how one can weigh their friendships and see your and your friend's long-term best interests. I think it's a valid, yet selfish way to determine and think through your friendships. I also think my experience with friends doesn't exactly support Ringer's view because we make sacrifices for each other, which Ringer is against. I also believe in equity when it comes to friendship, not equality.

Interpersonal Relationships: Ringer - Looking out for # 1:

According to Aristotle, under which category would Ringer’s type of friendship fall?

According to Aristotle, Ringer's friendship would be useful because it is based on expecting something out of each other for each other's gain. These friendships can also be of high quantity.

Interpersonal Relationships: Ringer - Looking out for # 1:

Do you agree with Ringer that we take liberties with our good friends, we would not think of taking with our worst enemies?

I don't agree that if we take liberties with our good friends, we will not think of taking with our worst enemies because we treat our friends and our enemies differently. I think you should have more of an equity with good friends, while people you don't like should be treated with through a lens of equality.

Interpersonal Relationships: Kant - Friendship:

How does Kant define friendship?

Kant defines friendship as when someone cares for someone else's happiness and they do the same for them. It is a generous mutual care between two or more people where care is reciprocated.

Interpersonal Relationships: Kant - Friendship:

Why is friendship important to us, according to Kant?

According to Kant, friendship is important to us because it relieves us from the constraints of society where we don't disclose our true thoughts and feelings. Friends allow us to take off our masks and accept us for who we truly are.

Interpersonal Relationships: Kant - Friendship:

What are the positive and negative aspects of friendship?

The positives of friendship are that we find someone who is trustworthy and who will have a relationship with us that is free from malice and falsity. Our friends can also allow us to be our true selves, while also unburdening our hearts. They can also uphold our morals and correct us if we are morally wrong. However, friendship can also make us close-minded to those who are outside our friendship circle. Naturally, we like to join societies or clubs, but as a member of a group, we exclude others. Ideally, we should not exclude others.

Interpersonal Relationships: Kant - Friendship:

What holds a friendship together, according to Kant?

According to Kant, what holds a friendship together is sharing the same intellectual or moral principle. However, it's better if you think differently from your friend. That way you can learn from each other and better understand each other on a moral level.

Interpersonal Relationships: Marilyn Friedman - Friendship and Moral Growth:

How does friendship foster our moral growth, according to Friedman? Do you agree/disagree? Provide your own examples.

According to Friedman, friendship fosters our moral growth when it provides experiences that help us learn things that make us grow morally. The ways our friends are affected by society tell us something about its standards. Friends may affect our moral autonomy. For example, a student may want to go to sleep, but they get a sudden phone call from a friend who is having a panic attack and suffering from extreme anxiety. The student, in reaction to their friend's distress, will stay on the call and help calm down their friend, no matter how long it takes to do so. In this case, the student is putting the needs and well-being of their friend over their wants and needs, which is a sign of positive moral growth.

Interpersonal Relationships: LaFollette - Licensing Parents:

What does LaFollette argue for in this text?

LaFolette is arguing for the state for all parents to be licensed and why it's desirable.

Interpersonal Relationships: LaFollette - Licensing Parents:

Why should parents be licensed?

LaFollette believes parents should be licensed because parenting can potentially be very harmful to children, and a parent must be competent to avoid hurting the child. This is so that bad parents can't raise children in harmful ways.

Interpersonal Relationships: LaFollette - Licensing Parents:

What is the analogy between licensing drivers of cars and parents?

The analogy between licensing car drivers and parents is that driving requires safety to be functional, which requires a certain amount of competence. We use the process of licensing because an activity is harmful, safety in the activity requires a certain amount of competence, and we need a reliable procedure for determining competence. Thus, LaFollette says that we should have a similar process for parental licensing. When tests are reliable, promote safety, and are applied to harmful activities, they are affected. Parenting is harmful because some parents abuse their children, and some neglect their children through incompetence.

Interpersonal Relationships: LaFollette - Licensing Parents:

What are the theoretical objections against licensing parents? Do you find them convincing?

The two theoretical objections against licensing parents are licensing is not theoretically desirable, and that there aren't any procedures that can accurately license good parents. The first objection claims that licensing parents takes away the right for people to have children, which LaFolette claims that there is no such right and that even if there was, rights are mainly non-absolute. I disagree with this objection because it assumes that people have a civil right to have a child, regardless of circumstance. The second objection claims that we can't accurately predict who would be a good or bad parent. I agree with the second objection because someone could start as a great parent, but then later begin to abuse their child.

Interpersonal Relationships: LaFollette - Licensing Parents:

What do you personally think should be the criterion/criteria to decide whether or not someone should be allowed to have children or to adopt children?

I think if we were to be licensed to have or adopt children, I think the only criteria should be that one would go through thorough, enhanced training so that someone is fully ready to raise a child into a productive member of society.

Interpersonal Relationships: LaFollette - Licensing Parents:

Why is the claim that parents should be licensed not so extreme if we think about the case of adoptive parents?

The claim that parents should be licensed is not so extreme when it comes to adoptive parents because they have a smaller emotional attachment to the child since it didn't come as a result of their physical activity. Also, adoption procedures make it so that most adoptive parents have to be competent and not want to abuse the child to adopt them.

Interpersonal Relationships: LaFollette - Licensing Parents:

Why do many of us find the idea of licensing parents abhorrent?

Many of us find the idea of licensing parents abhorrent because these beliefs have adverse effects on children and parents, as parents should raise their children so that they become functional adults in the future.