I DONT KNOW WHAT STYLE ITS SUPPOSED TO BE BUT LMK IF U HAVE ANY QUESTIONS AIM: The aim of this paper is to take a classic text, in this case Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics on friendship, and apply it to a contemporary issue involving friendship. PDF versions of Books VIII (Chapters 1-7) and IX (Chapters 1-5 and 10-12) of the Nicomachean Ethics on friendship with my notes on them are posted on Canvas. This is the Core Assessment Essay for the State of Texas, and it requires that you read a classic text and apply it to a contemporary issue. So you MUST read and cite Aristotle’s original text, not summaries of that text. So the goal here is to explain Aristotle’s 3 kinds of friendship, apply it to a contemporary issue on friendship (such as social media friendships or friends with benefits), then to fulfill the State of Texas requirements, you are to then state both personal and social responsibility with respect to whatever issue you choose.
Some Contemporary Issues (choose ONLY ONE for this paper):
Technology/Social Media Friends. The question here concerns forming or starting a friendship through technology, not maintaining an already existing friendship through technology. A few key concepts here are: trust, the desire to spend time with that person, being familiar with that person. The question here could concern what kind of friendship can form over social media (use and pleasure might not be that much of an issue, a friendship of goodness might not be possible only through technology).
Friends with Benefits. This one is more difficult as it involves two forms of love, eros and philia. There is no doubt the two are hanging out for the sake of pleasure, the question is: is it a friendship at all? To determine this, one has to answer whether the two people DO anything that friends do: spend time together apart from sex, become familiar, trust, share, etc. So the main question here is not what kind of friendship it would be, as it obviously is one of pleasure, but whether they can be counted as friends at all.
Friendship and Marriage. Aristotle says that husband and wife are natural friends, but he thinks the ideal friendship is displayed between two men who are in their prime and virtuous. But there is nothing to prevent two married people from being friends of the good. In fact, a good marriage will be a friendship of goodness (highest kind of philia), and also contain other kinds of love, like romantic love (eros) and unconditional love (agape). If a marriage is just use or pleasure, the relationship will not last and it will cause all kinds of problems: high divorce rate, single parent homes, psychological issues with children, etc. So here the aim is to show what a good marriage would look like according to Aristotle, and contrast that with bad ones and all the problems that follow.
Parents and Children. If you choose this topic, you should include what Aristotle says about parents and children and friendship. The main question here concerns parents who want to be buddies with their children (a friendship of pleasure). Just like with marriage, if parents are in a relationship with their children just for pleasure, all kinds of problems ensue.
Other. If you have an idea not listed here, you should clear it with me first to make sure it counts as a contemporary issue and that something about Aristotle is relevant.
Paper Structure and Requirements
Paragraph 1: In about 1/2 of a page, write an introduction to your paper. Your introduction should include a general understanding of both Aristotle’s 3 kinds of friendship and your particular issue, leading to a clear thesis. Try to imagine a reader picking up your paper who has never heard of Aristotle’s views on friendship. Your job here is to inform, in broad strokes, about the issues in this paper: Aristotle’s unique view of friendship (that there are three kinds), what the current issue is, and how the 3 kinds apply to your issue. Choose only ONE contemporary issue. Paragraph 1: In one sentence, write a thesis statement concerning the 3 kinds of friendship and your stance on a contemporary issue on friendship and make your thesis be the last sentence of your introduction. A clear thesis lays out your position for your reader and what you will argue for, citing reasons why a view is wrong or why an alternative is right. For instance: “I will argue that according to Aristotle it is impossible to have the highest kind of friendship if two people are only social media friends, the main reason being that in order to be friends of the good, two people must know each other’s character, and this is not possible over social media only.” Or: “I will argue that friends with benefits are also friendships of pleasure if the two get to know each other and spend time together apart from strictly sexual relations.” Or: “I will argue that parents should not pursue a friendship of pleasure with their children, as parents’ primary role concerns raising children to be good people.” You are free to use these ideas, but DO NOT COPY my words or wording. Again, choose only ONE issue.
Paragraph 2: In about 1/2 of a page, explain a Friendship of Use according to Aristotle. See the Canvas Resources on Aristotle on Friendship above for help with writing this part. You MUST cite Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics here by Book and Chapter number (see the page and video entitled “How to Cite Aristotle” in this module).
Paragraph 3: In about 1/2 of a page, explain a Friendship of Pleasure according to Aristotle. See the Canvas Resources on Aristotle on Friendship above for help with writing this part. You MUST cite Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics here by Book and Chapter number (see the page and video entitled “How to Cite Aristotle” in this module).
Paragraph 4: In about 3/4 of a page, explain a Friendship of Goodness according to Aristotle. See the Canvas Resources on Aristotle on Friendship above for help with writing this part. You MUST cite Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics here by Book and Chapter number (see the page and video entitled “How to Cite Aristotle” in this module).
Paragraph 5: In about 1 page, apply Aristotle’s views on friendship to ONE contemporary issue on friendship, making sure that you argue your position based on your thesis. Here you are to take the principles of Aristotle’s account and apply it to your issue. First, provide and cite information about the contemporary issue concerning friendship. This can include general information, statistics, an author’s point of view on the issue, etc. Second, argue your thesis: take Aristotle’s ideas on friendship and apply them to your issue. This part should make a case involving the types of friendship and how you think it applies to your issue. NOTE: if you stated, cited and explained the concepts of Aristotle above, you do not need to cite them here again, just apply them. Do CITE any information here that has not been previously introduced, especially any information concerning your issue.
Paragraph 6: In about 1/2 of a page, provide three statements concerning personal responsibility. You are not required to research and cite this part, as you are relaying personal insights here. Provide at least 2 sentences on each part. First, identify a personal dilemma that might stem from the issue you have chosen. If you chose technology, perhaps a dilemma might concern psychological issues that arise from online friendships; if you chose friends with benefits, a dilemma might concern what happens to the quality of relationships in the long term; if you chose marriage, a dilemma might concern high divorce rates; lastly, if you chose children, there could be many social and psychological issues with how children are raised. This is a personal insight into some foreseeable dilemma that you identify with respect to your issue. Second, state what you think would be some foreseeable consequences which might stem from decisions you make in your life concerning this issue. Third, state what personal values you grew up with or now hold that led you to the choices you might make with respect to this issue throughout your life.
Paragraph 7: In about 1/2 of a page, display to your reader that you have knowledge of two different cultural biases with respect to this issue, one in our culture and another in another culture. This is called social responsibility and does not need to be argued or tied to your position on your issue. You are merely showing your reader that you have awareness of these two different biases in two different cultures. You must research and cite this part. The main biases involved here will involve certain disadvantaged groups, such as minorities, women, people with disabilities, LGBTQ+ persons, immigrants, children, homeless and impoverished persons, etc. First, do some research about one of these disadvantaged groups with respect to your issue and show your reader that you are aware of how they are being treated in the United States. For instance, if your issue is technology, a bias may occur against impoverished people or immigrants and their lack of access to technology; if your issue is friends with benefits, there are many biases involving women; if your issue is marriage, there may be biases concerning minorities or LGBTQ+ persons ; if your issue is children, there may be biases against children with disabilities or against minority children; etc. Second, do some research on a different bias against a different group with respect to your issue and show your reader that you are aware of how they are being treated in a country or culture other than the United States. For instance, if your issue is technology, you may have spoken about how the poor don’t have access to technology in the United States. Here you could discuss a bias against women with respect to technology in the Middle East for instance. Or, if your issue is friends with benefits, you may have spoken about a bias against women in the United States. Here you could discuss a bias against members of the LGBTQ+ community in another country when it comes to casual dating. So retain the same issue in both parts, but find two different biases against two different groups in two different countries or cultures.
Formatting, Citations and Bibliography: See the “How to Cite Aristotle” page and video in this module for detailed instructions on how to cite Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics. NOTE: If you do not cite Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics for the 3 kinds of friendship, you will not get any credit for those parts. Follow all policies and standards for formatting, citing, and providing a bibliography found in the Formatting and Citing Assignment; for a reminder, please see the “Formatting, Citations and Bibliography” entry in the rubric below.
Formatting, Citations and Bibliography
Formatting: 12 point font; 1×1 inch margins; double-spaced; include page numbers; include your name, the date, the course and section number, and the professor name in the top left hand corner of your paper; put a title on your paper but do not include a title page
You MUST include in-text citations in your paper in proper form. Proper form for Aristotle is abbreviated work title plus book in Roman numerals and chapter in Arabic numerals; for a text with an author is author last name plus page number; proper form for a web page is web page in italics and article title in quotation marks
You MUST include a bibliography in proper form. Proper form for a text is author last name, first name, title in italics, edition, place of publication, publisher and year of publication; proper form for a web page is article title in quotation marks, web page in italics, date accessed or published, and URL. Put your entries in alphabetical order