Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Chapter 1 What is loyalty?
- Chapter 2 Friendship and belief
- Chapter 3 What is patriotism?
- Chapter 4 Against patriotism
- Chapter 5 Filial duty: debt, gratitude and friendship
- Chapter 6 Filial duty: special goods and compulsory loyalty
- Chapter 7 Is loyalty a value? Is loyalty a virtue?
- Chapter 8 Communitarian arguments for the importance of loyalty
- Chapter 9 Josiah Royce and the ethics of loyalty
- Chapter 10 Disloyalty
- Conclusion
- Postscript: universal morality and the problem of loyalty
- Bibliography
- Index
Chapter 2 - Friendship and belief
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 22 September 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Chapter 1 What is loyalty?
- Chapter 2 Friendship and belief
- Chapter 3 What is patriotism?
- Chapter 4 Against patriotism
- Chapter 5 Filial duty: debt, gratitude and friendship
- Chapter 6 Filial duty: special goods and compulsory loyalty
- Chapter 7 Is loyalty a value? Is loyalty a virtue?
- Chapter 8 Communitarian arguments for the importance of loyalty
- Chapter 9 Josiah Royce and the ethics of loyalty
- Chapter 10 Disloyalty
- Conclusion
- Postscript: universal morality and the problem of loyalty
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
LOYALTY IN BELIEF
An incident from the sitcom Friends:
Joey and Chandler are driving from New York to Las Vegas, where Joey has landed an acting job that he hopes will be his big break into show business. They are playing a game, which involves Joey asking questions and Chandler giving immediate, unreflective replies. (Example: “Whom would you rather sleep with, Rachel or Monica?”) One of Joey's questions is, “Is this job going to be my big break?,” and Chandler, before he can catch himself, answers “No.” A crisis in the friendship ensues; Joey feels betrayed, and Chandler feels like a betrayer. Joey expels the remorseful Chandler from the car, and drives to Las Vegas alone.
Why should Chandler's admission throw the friendship into question? Not, it seems, because Chandler chooses to tell Joey that he does not believe that his big break is imminent. The whole point of the game is to reveal things of which Chandler is only subconsciously aware and would not normally say aloud. There is a crisis in the friendship because Chandler does not believe that this acting job will be Joey's big break. If he were really a good friend, Chandler would have more optimistic beliefs about Joey's prospects – whether the evidence supported those beliefs or not.
Whatever the quality of my Friends exegesis, the incident as related certainly connects with some familiar platitudes about friendship.
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- Information
- The Limits of Loyalty , pp. 24 - 51Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2007