Björn Vedder: Warum Facebook-Freunde echte Freunde sind

How are friendships connected to our desire to be loved for ourselves, or to gain recognition for our individual personality in our personal relationships? Friendships in digital networks like Facebook seem to me to be exemplary in this regard. However, I won't stop there. With the desire for recognition, friendships face the problem of pathological narcissism. I would like to contrast this with a concept of friendships as narcissistic relationships that are not pathological, but rather make friends at least somewhat decent people—and at the same time better suited to the desires and expectations that people have of their friendships today than traditional models such as camaraderie, friendship in need, or selfless friendship. With these reflections on the moralizing power of friendship, I am connecting to Aristotle's considerations of friendship as a relationship that imparts certain virtues, as my lecture is indeed rooted in the tradition of philosophical eudaimonia. I would like to contrast this with a concept of friendship as narcissistic relationships that are not pathological, but rather make friends at least somewhat decent people—and which, at the same time, better fits the desires and expectations that people have of their friendships today than traditional models such as comradeship, friendship in need, or selfless friendship. With these reflections on the moralizing power of friendship, I am following Aristotle's considerations of friendship as a relationship that imparts certain virtues, and indeed, my lecture stands in the tradition of philosophical eudaimonia. ``` Björn Vedder, born in Brakel in 1976, studied literature and philosophy at Ruhr University Bochum, Humboldt University of Berlin, and Bielefeld University. He received his doctorate from Bielefeld University in 2008 with a dissertation on literature and visual arts. He lives as a freelance writer in Herrsching am Ammersee and writes about art, literature, and philosophy, and also curates exhibitions. His publications include New Friends: On Friendship in the Age of Facebook (2017), Knowledge and Spectacle: On Art and Illusion (2014), and Wilhelm Heinse and the So-Called Sturm und Drang: Artificial Paradises of Nature Between Rococo and Classicism (2011).