Who is The Selfish Friend?

What are friends and how a friendship test? By acting altruistically, would be the most common answer and by sacrificing one interest in favor of his friends. Friendship implies the opposite of egoism, both psychologically and morally. But then we say that the dog is “man’s best friend.” After all, it is characterized by unconditional love, an altruistic behavior, by sacrifice, if any. Is not epitome of friendship? Apparently not. On the one hand, the friendship of the dog not to be affected by long term calculations of personal advantage. But it does not mean that it is not influenced by calculations of short-term nature. The owner, after all, takes care of dogs, and is the source of its maintenance and safety. People – and dogs – were known to have sacrificed their lives for less. The dog is selfish – it crashes and protects what it regards as its territory and its property (including – and especially if – the owner).

Thus the first condition, seemingly not satisfied with the commitment of the dogs is that it is reasonably unselfish.

However, there are the more important assumptions:

1. For a true friendship that exists – at least one of the friends should be a conscious and intelligent entity, endowed with mental states. Can be an individual or group of individuals, but in both cases, this requirement applies similarly.

2. There must be a minimum of mental states are identical between the terms in the equation of friendship. A man cannot be friends with a tree (at least not in the full sense of the word).

3. Behavior cannot be deterministic, because it is interpreted as instinct driven. Informed choice must be involved. This is a very surprising conclusion: the more “trustworthy”, more “predictable” – are less valued. Someone who reacts the same way in similar situations, without devoting the first to speak a second thought about it – his acts would be “automatic responses”.

For a model that is described as “friendship”, these four conditions must be met: diminished egoism, conscious and intelligent agents, identical mental states (allowing communication of the friendship) and non-deterministic behavior the result of making constant decision.

Friendship can be – and often is – tested with regard to these criteria. It’s a paradox underlying the concept of friendship and test. A true friend would never test his friend’s commitment and loyalty. Who sets his friend, a test (deliberately) cannot be considered a friend of yourself. But circumstances can put members of the friendship, all the samples of the two (or more) of the “collective” and proof of friendship. The economic difficulties faced by someone who will force his friends to help him – although he himself did not take the initiative and explicitly asked them to do so. It is life that tests for flexibility and strength and depth of true friendships – not friends themselves.