Open AccessHow Friendship Works in Higher Education: Inclusive Friendship, Mimetic Theory, and the Liberal Arts
Author(s) -
Curtis Gruenler
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
xiphias gladius
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2603-6088
DOI - 10.32466/eufv-xg.2021.4.680.48-66
Subject(s) - friendship , liberal arts education , construct (python library) , the arts , sociology , value (mathematics) , higher education , epistemology , aesthetics , social science , social psychology , psychology , political science , philosophy , law , machine learning , computer science , programming language
If, as the social sciences argue, knowledge is socially constructed, friendship is the traditional way of talking about relationships that construct knowledge well. An analysis of the value of friendship through mimetic theory, in dialogue with the social sciences and with literary examples drawn from Dante, Tolkien, and Rowling, argues that institutions of higher education should emphasize the development of capacities for friendship through the shared pursuit of the liberal arts.