Verified Document

Socratic Method Dialogue Tony: Hi Term Paper

Tony: You're making this really difficult, aren't you?

Mark: I guess friendship is really difficult to define. Can you think of other definitions to apply to friendship?

Tony: Let me think. What about understanding and support? Surely you get these nowhere as deeply or as often as in friendship. A friend would support you in whatever you're going through. A friend would understand all of your moods and share all your good and bad times. There is no better support than a friend, is there? Take for example the thing with Gary. I'm providing you with understanding and support, because you're going through a difficult time. I haven't been through the same thing, but I understand because I'm your friend.

Mark: Okay, but support and understanding again are flawed, even in friendship. Nobody can be perfectly supportive and understanding. What if you for example were going through a rough time of your own? What if maybe your girlfriend broke up with you? You wouldn't be able to support me in my situation, because you'd need support of your own. Support can also come from more sources than just friends. I may find support from my priest, for example, and he certainly isn't my friend.

Tony:...

I'm not saying we'd be perfectly supportive or even understanding, but I'm saying we'd make the effort because we're friends. We understand each other because we spend time together. We support each other for the sake of our continued friendship. We get support and understanding from each other that we'd find nowhere else - neither from parents nor from religious leaders.
Mark: So you're saying that the quality of the things we get from friendship is different than the quality of the same elements in other relationships?

Tony: Exactly. I think that also goes for the other things we've discussed. Trust, forgiveness, understanding and support may come from many relationships, but only in friendship do they reach a special depth.

Mark: I guess you're right. Now we only need to find a definition for the depth you're talking about. But we can do that later; I'm late for my meeting with Prof Jennings. Bye.

Tony: Good luck with that. Bye.

Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

Friendship in Lord of the Rings: The
Words: 1033 Length: 3 Document Type: Essay

Friendship in Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring The Lord of the Rings embodies friendship and its importance through the many relations among its stimulating characters. Tolkien truly lives vicariously through his creations by emphasizing on companionship throughout the course of the epic fantasy. Relations such as those between Sam and Frodo, Gandalf and Aragorn and Legolas and Gimli, prove time and time again how friendship indeed was

Friendship the Classic Story of
Words: 951 Length: 3 Document Type: Term Paper

This is what the friendship between Gilgamesh and Enkidu represents. Thus, during the friendship of Gilgamesh and Enkidu, the two engage in numerous adventures, often dangerous in nature. For example, Enkidu assists Gilgamesh in his fight against Humbaba, the guardian monster of the Cedar Forest. Even though Enkidu does not agree with the actions, he nonetheless cooperates with Gilgamesh in successfully defeating and killing Humbaba. He later assists Gilgamesh with

Friendship in the Polis
Words: 1082 Length: 3 Document Type: Term Paper

Aristotle's Friendships Elena Irrera interprets Aristotle's Nichomachean Ethics on friendship as having three distinct, but possibly overlapping purposes. In addition to friendships based on love, there are also friendships based on "ethical excellence" and "utility" (p. 7). Friendships based on love can be rooted in a mutual sense of understanding and trust, and are typically rooted in a long history of companionship. Friendships based on ethical excellence are more difficult to

Friendships: Classification the First Type
Words: 489 Length: 1 Document Type: Essay

The mentor guides and counsels and takes an interest in the younger person, and is inspired by seeing the trainee succeed. This may occur in the workforce, in the classroom between teacher and pupil, and even in cross-generational friendships. This mentoring relationship may have some overlap with friends who are also family members. One of the proudest things any parent can boast is that his or her child is a

Friendship in Plato, Augustine and Montaigne
Words: 1677 Length: 6 Document Type: Essay

Plato, Augustine and Montaigne all define friendship in different ways, though they share many similarities. Augustine, for instance, defined it in terms of the ultimate aim of man as a Christian, which is to be united to God: a friend was thus one who assisted or supported the development of that holy union. Plato viewed friendship in a more philosophical (and less theological vein) but nonetheless defined it as one

Friendship in Huckleberry Finn
Words: 703 Length: 2 Document Type: Essay

Huck Finn The Friendship of Huck and Jim As Huck and Jim drift on to Cairo, Huck begins to feel that Jim is displaying more hubris than a runaway slave should. His "civilized" self begins to come to the surface and he contemplates turning Jim in as it would be the "right" thing to do -- after all, Jim does belong to Miss Watson and not to himself. The struggle in Huck

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now