The disturbing dazzle of digital friendships: a viewpoint from the Nicomachean Ethics = O deslumbramento inquietante das amizades digitais: um ponto de vista a partir da Ética a Nicómaco

Abstract

We aim to reflect on the (dis)advantages of the current proliferation of messages and encounters, of "friendships", facilitated by the use of digital technologies. At the same time, we confront the concept of "friendship" underlying contemporary interpersonal relationships, born from the adherence to digital applications, with Aristotle's definition of friendship; a conception that, from an ethical-social perspective, has been a significant influence throughout the ages in Western society. In doing so, we evaluate some disruptions caused in terms of the (dis)integration of personal and social references, and of collective frameworks, traditionally structuring and emblematic in the consideration of authentic human living.