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The broadest area of my life that requires certain virtues in order to do well is friendship. To be a good friend demands virtue; the bond of friendship can be easily broken when a person exhibits poor moral character. One reason why friendship depends on virtue is that friendship also requires trust. A friend is called someone who we can lean on, or whose shoulder we can cry on. In order to lean on someone, we need to be vulnerable with that person and vulnerability requires trust. The “telos” of friendship is rooted in the basic human need for intimacy, connection with others, and a healthy social life. Having close friends also leads to what Aristotle called eudaimonia, which means “happiness” or “flourishing,” (Hursthouse, 2016, p. 1). A person does not need to be extraverted, or around people all the time to experience eudaimonia but does at some point need to have a handful of people who can be called upon in times of need, or people who one simply shares a deep connection with in life.
Friendship is connected also with the concept of civic and moral duty, which is where Aristotle’s virtue ethics align most with Kant’s deontological ethics....
As Sandel (2012) points out, “civic duties are not private property but public responsibilities. To outsource them is to demean them, to value them in the wrong way,” (p. 1). Sandel (2012) focuses on the ways the world is moving towards the commodification of everything, coming dangerously close to even the commodification of friendship, of parenthood, and of citizenship. When we use friends, or buy friends, use money to manipulate others, or use money to have power in a relationship, we are undermining the telos of friendship. The main meaning and function of friendship is eudaimonia, not power. When people commodify their relationships with not just their close friends but their neighbors and fellow citizens, they are not acting in accordance with the principles of virtue, and are not going to be happy in the long run. The film Groundhog Day deftly illustrates the importance of virtue in all our human relationships.
Several of the most contentious political debates have to do with the need for more virtue in our civic affairs. The healthcare debate is a prime example. People should not be able to buy their way into a healthier life; we as citizens should vow to take…
References
Albert, T. (Producer), & Ramis, H. (Director). (1993). Groundhog day [Motion picture]. United States: Columbia Pictures.
Aristotle. Nicomachean Ethics. Trans. Roger Crisp. http://catdir.loc.gov/catdir/samples/cam032/99036947.pdf
Hursthouse, R. (2016). Virtue ethics. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/ethics-virtue/#FormVirtEthi
Sandel, M.J. (2012). What isn’t for sale? The Atlantic. April 2012. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/04/what-isnt-for-sale/308902/
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