The Institutional Logics of Love: Friendship

There is not much that separates our kind from lower species of life. Our intellect, communication skills and opposable thumbs are a few of the many advantages to being a human. Human’s ability to construct a deep and rewarding lifelong friendship is no less incredible than any of the previously mentioned traits. These friendships are an integral part of our lives each and everyday, and friendships that last can certainly help lead to ones success later on in life. I have had many very close friends in my life and they all have helped me in their own way. Their strengths and abilities have immensely helped me in areas that might otherwise be weaknesses. In The Pact, three youths relied on each other’s guidance and strengths

There are over six billion people on Earth today. Each of those people has countless relationships, which extend further into an immense network of relations among thousands of individuals. These relations can be romantic, professional, unconditional, mutual, or the strongest of all, friendship. Friendship is a term used to denote co-operative and supportive behavior between two or more beings. In this sense, the term connotes a relationship which involves mutual knowledge, esteem, and affection and respect along with a degree of rendering service to friends in times of need or crisis. Friends will welcome each other's company and exhibit loyalty towards each other, often to the point of altruism.

Friendship is one of the most valuable components in life. Friendship has the ability to change lives in a positive way. Friendship changes people’s views on life to a more positive outlook. “True friendship is when someone knows you better than yourself and takes a position in your best interests in a crisis. Friendship goes beyond sharing time together, and it is long lasting.” (Friends.com). As we spend a lot of time with our friends, friendship opens our minds to different ways of viewing the world. Unfortunately, sometimes strong barriers may be placed by those who see two people’s friendship as a threat; since people are influenced by their friends, friendship could make people question what

The theme of friendship courses through Chaim Potok’s book, The Chosen. Potok desires to show the reader what a strong friendship looks like and how it stands up to the test of time. When two people know each other well and spend a lot of time together, there are bound to be misunderstandings, fights, and other trials. Yet God says in His word “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.” (New American Standard Bible, Proverbs 27:17) Even when friendships are difficult, they can “sharpen” the people involved in the friendship, like in the case of Danny and Reuven. Danny and Reuven’s friendship lasts through Danny’s irrational behavior, Reuven’s outbursts of anger, and Reb Saunders’s absurd beliefs.

“We cannot tell the precise moment when friendship is formed. As in filling a vessel drop by drop, that is a last drop which makes it run over; so in a series of kindness there is at last one which makes the heart run over” (Bradbury, 71)

Throughout this essay I will be evaluating the contribution of an ethnographic approach to research on friendship. I will be looking at, and including evidence to support both sides of the argument as to whether or not this research method is in fact useful when it comes to gaining knowledge about friendship. As well as evaluating this method, I will compare it against others to reflect on the strengths, weaknesses and the typical data collected. I will look at some of the questions about friendship that have been addressed, and then whether this is the best method or if there are others that could have been more suitable.

From humanity comes friendship, but friendship may not be as one-dimensional and simplistic as the common person believes it to be- it may not stop at the surface level. In David Whyte’s book, Consolations: The Solace, Nourishment and Underlying Meaning of Everyday Words, he writes on friendship, exposing the true facets of an authentic friendship that oftentimes are overlooked by many people. In Whyte’s opinion, friendship is an eternal experience, or at least an experience in which people take part over an extended period of time. The need for continuous support and forgiveness from and for both parties in a friendship presupposes this prolonged temporality. Naturally, as friendships take constant conscious effort, they require interest

Some scholars have argued that Emerson's views on friendship are strange and radical while others feel that his logic is sound and valid. This argument can only be found by finding the deeper meaning in

While people are often able to identify when they feel the emotion love, love itself seems to defy definition.  In her polemic “Against Love”, Laura Kipnis argues that love cannot exist as traditional expressions of love such as marriage, monogamy, and mutuality.  However, in her argument, she defines love incorrectly by equating love to expressions of love. This definition lacks a component essential to understanding the abstract concept of love: emotion. Recognizing love as emotion helps us realize that, contrary to Kipnis’ argument love by nature transcends all expressions of love. Love is subjective and exists in any and all forms. In her argument that love cannot survive as conventional expressions of love, Kipnis ignores the nature of love as emotion in favor of equating love to different expressions of love. Love is a force which exists above expressions of love; a true understanding of love can only come from an assessment of how individuals, not societies, respond to the emotion.

The five factors that predict interpersonal relationships are: proximity, familiarity, similarity, physical appearance, and reciprocity. Proximity refers to the geographical location of persons. People are more likely to initiate, engage, or maintain relationships if someone’s geographical location is near or convenient to the person they are to pursue. Relationships, whether romantic or platonic, are not as likely to be initiated if the proximity does not allow individuals to cross paths or maintain a certain level of communication. As well, familiarity plays an important role in the fostering of relationships. People are said to have an increased attraction and fondness for individuals that they see more often than those they do not. In lay terms, similarity can be summed up by saying that people enjoy the presence of those like (or similar) to them. Individuals are more often drawn to and feel less intimidated by others that share their culture and belief systems; thus, are more likely to form relationships with them. Next, is physical attractiveness; which can be defined in two different ways. First off, people tend to believe that beautiful things equal good things and are more likely to seek out relationships with individuals they find beautiful. However, people are also likely to form relationships with people they believe to be on

So the social structures, divisions and agencies which underpin society influence friendships. Analysis has identified many different types and formations of friendship of varying degrees of intimacy. Perhaps the key to understanding friendship is to understand that different friendships thrive in accordance with the different needs of each person, and that finding a person who or a friendship which meets personal expectations is where the relevance lies. A ‘symbolic interactionist’ sociological approach to future research would ascertain how that understanding between two people is reached. So, friendship exists within the social and economic context in which it was formed, and if this context alters, so does the nature of the friendship. The way in which humans manage and create friendships reacts to changes and evolves in order to sustain itself as part of the human condition. This is evidence of the value and necessity of human connection, be it friends or family, to the life experience. Studying friendship provides knowledge of social developments and changes. This is valuable in understanding human interaction and future policy within health and

Friendships are special relationships that begin the development of social skills in each human person. Every time we open the door to form new friendships it begins with an experimental and holistic practice of philosophy and science. Whether we recognize the use of philosophy and science or not it’s being applied to shape friendships. The formation and bond of friendships has been studied for many years through science, philosophy, and theology. The point of this paper is to give the point of view and purpose of friendship according to science, philosophy, and theology and how it is applied to our everyday life.

“No one would choose a friendless existence on condition of having all the other things in the world (Aristotle).” Humans are social beings, social beyond any other creature in the world. Human interaction is a must for survival. It is in our nature. Aristotle understood this, he even had his own analysis of friendship. In the Nicomachean Ethics written by Aristotle, books VIII and IX are based off of friendship. Today, the definition of a friend is, “A person with whom one has a bond of mutual affection, typically one exclusive of sexual or family relations (Oxford Dictionary).” To Aristotle, friendship is much more than this. In this research paper, I will evaluate whether or not Aristotle’s analysis of friendship is applicable to the modern world.

There are a lot of important things in life. However, one of the most important things for people to survive in this world is friendship. Without friendship, people can die of loneliness. What do you think about your friends? Do you like your friends? There are a lot of different types of friends. There are friends that I like and some friends with whom I do not get along. Friends with positive characteristics such as reliable, trustworthy and faithful whom I usually get along with are the one that tend to have more friends and the negative one whom I usually not get along with tend to be alone. However, friends with negative characteristic can also give us some good examples of seeing double sides of something, like, a character can be

Aristotle highlighted the importance of friendship through various practices and concepts, such as utility and virtue. Virtuous practices were believed to enhance the friendship and encourage happiness among the participants (Kraut 64). Unfortunately, a friend whose behavior and practices are malevolent causes a rift in the practice of Aristotle’s principles. Therefore, to preserve the friendship and to protect one’s friend, one must do all that is possible to cease his or her friend’s actions.