Abstract
Nowadays we dwell in a permanently connected world in which our attention is constantly and simultaneously claimed by multiple fronts. This leads us to merely superficial relationships. Through a detailed conceptual analysis, this paper shows to what extent this is true and how much it is worth for young people, and from an educational standpoint, to learn how to live their relationships in greater depth. Therefore, and first of all, we turn to the currently forgotten Aristotelian concept of the perfect friendship. It was a kind of deep and essential friendship that Aristotle distinguished from other superficial and incidental types. Secondly, we profusely analyze the current state of affairs. Through several studies, both theoretical and empirical, we try and demonstrate that nowadays there time is scarce that one would need to have in order to develop deep and non-superficial friendship bonds. Thirdly, we point out the way the educational field has been influenced by this inertia context. This has led schools and families as well to only brace superficial friendships. Finally, we conclude that perfect friendship is directly connected with ethics. Then, if we want future generations to grow up as ethical individuals, it is important to provide them with sufficient time to cultivate perfect friendships.
Philosophy of education; Knowledge society; Aristotle; Friendship