Based on Reading an interview (transcript) of Alexander Nehamas by Richard Marshall.
“My own view is that friendship is essential to our becoming who we are.”
Alexander Nehamas
In reading an interview between Richard Marshall and Alexander Nehamas, the pair attempt to articulate what a friendship means – as a relationship between two individuals, building on some of the existing thought work around Aristotle’s categorisation of different kinds of friendships (Prather, 2022). What struck me was Nehamas’ view on what friendship enables us to be – essentially who we are as individuals. It’s interesting to note that although one may think, friendship (like morality) is based on an alignment of values, Nehamas argues that it’s just as much based on a divergence of beliefs, but within a safe container – a container that allows us to express our individuality (Marshall, 2017).
I believe this idea is crucial in Art and Design and further HE, for students to be able to create a space/s that enable them to understand their roles through the lens of this kind of friendship. The students are both individuals in a degree/program but also a collective of diverse beliefs and experiences, each of which is valuable in the articulation of the relationships (friendships) they (the students) share with one another, and further how they influence and direct one another based on similarities, differences, etc.
In terms of my own interventions, I am thinking about these ideas as relevant in two different ways:
- In Workshop 2, I received some feedback that challenged my existing beliefs about how I’m observing/collecting data for my interventions. Perhaps I need a way to understand what it is I’m looking for. Nehamas articulates friendship as an embodied experience (Marshall, 2017). One that is based on body language, tone, posture and expression. However, he equally also expressed that (often) friendship is observed in the mundane – as opposed to in theatre or film, it’s not necessarily manifested as heroism. Perhaps I need a more critical lens to think about if what I’m observing is truly being evaluated through the lens of friendship/community/belonging – i.e. the themes that this research is interested in.
- Perhaps I need to think about these frameworks of friendship in the way I design my interventions. So far, I have been trying to get students to centre around an activity, an object, a space but perhaps what I need to think about more deeply is how they engage with each other. Perhaps it’s not so much the activity/space/object that needs to be at the centre, but rather how those things enable them to connect with each other that matters more.
References:
Prather, A. (2022). Understanding friendship through the eyes of Aristotle. Antigone Journal. https://antigonejournal.com/2021/03/understanding-friendship-through-aristotle/ (Accessed: 03 Nov 2024).
Marshall, R. (2017). Nietzsche and friendship – 3:16. 3:16. https://www.3-16am.co.uk/articles/nietzsche-and-friendship (Accessed: 04 Nov 2024).