Aristotle on the Good Man’s Desire for Pleasant Friends

At EN 1158a22-27, Aristotle argues that the virtuous man will pursue friendships with pleasant people, but not with people who are useful to him. Ideally, he adds, these friends should, despite being pleasant, also be good, since then the good man would have all the goods of friendship.The dominant problem with this passage is that the good man desires his friends to be pleasant; or, put it otherwise, that he desires pleasant friends. This idea, however, stands on the opposite side of Aristotle’s axiological hierarchy where the virtuous man desires, first and foremost, the good both as a goal in his life as a whole and in his friends, in particular. Pleasure is valuable in Aristotle’s ethics, but it only comes second to virtue and the good. In the present paper I will defend Aristotle by arguing that he may justify the argument of this passage without though jeopardizing his axiological hierarchy. To this purpose, I will provide the following reasons: (1) Character friendship is ideal for the virtuous agent. But, character friendships take place extremely rarely. The reason for this is that it is unusual for two people to have reached the same level of highly developed moral goodness. Therefore, it is rather unlikely for a good man to meet and befriend another agent as good as he is. (2) If (1) is true then if the good man does not want to remain friendless he must pursue friendships which are valuable, yet not the most valuable in Aristotle’s axiological hierarchy. In this section,  I will argue that this desire derives, largely, from the good man’s social and political nature. By this I mean that he desires, by nature, to share his life with others, and especially with friends. But this is merely the initial spark that impels the agent to pursue other forms of friendship than the one that occurs between good people. (3) In this third section I will illustrate how it is likely for the good man to desire pleasant friends without this fact influencing his axiological hierarchy. I will suggest that the virtuous agent does not consider pleasant just anyone. He values others as pleasant only if he recognizes in them at least some good habits of character which are manifested by the activities  that they have chosen to take part in, such as athletic activities, music, theater, and other cultured activities. The difference though between the VA and his friend rests on why each one of them values these activities, and, also, each one’s attitude towards these activities. On the one hand, the virtuous agent values them as being worthy of doing, and as being part of the good life and eudaimonia. But he does not deviate from attributing value to virtuous activity more highly than anything else. His friend, on the other hand, enjoys them for being what they are in that they fulfill his life as such, in the sense that he engages in one, or more, of these activities more devotedly than the good man. And this dissimilarity between the two friends with regard to the reason that they value these activities is also evident in their attitude towards them. Namely, while the VA will not engage in them with excess, his pleasant friend probably will; and this reflects the differences between them concerning their moral characters as well. &nbsp

Do women really like taken men? Results from a large questionnaire study

Nonindependent mate choice occurs when a female (focal female) is influenced in her mate choice by the choices of other females (model females), though sometimes male choice can be similarly influenced. In humans the study of this phenomenon has been almost exclusively experimental, with the perceived level of attractiveness of opposite-sex faces being influenced by manipulation of the attractiveness of their putative partner. As useful as these experimental studies are, the question of how validly they capture real-life social processes has not been addressed. Here we present the results of a questionnaire study which analyzed responses from 206 male and 175 female participants, both singles and people in a relationship. As predicted, paired men reported more opposite-sex interest than paired women, whereas the opposite was true for single respondents. Furthermore, the amount of opposite-sex interest reported by paired men correlated with the attractiveness of their partner, whereas this correlation between partner attractiveness and opposite-sex interest did not hold for female respondents. We suggest that this contrast is related to sex differences in benefits of nonindependent mate choice arising from sex-specific reproductive constraints. Our results are consistent with the kinds of effects recorded in laboratory studies, and provide evidence that non-independent mate choice plays at least some role in actual relationship dynamics

Mate quality bias: Sex differences in humans

In mate choice copying, a male is more likely to be chosen by other females simply by being observed mating. A recent finding is that women are influenced in their assessments of men by the phenotypic quality of males' sexual partners. We recently proposed that the term 'mate quality bias' should be used to differentiate this phenomenon from 'mate choice copying'. Here, under the guise of a dating preferences survey we replicated and extended some earlier results. We found that when presented to female raters, men are more desirable dates when they are depicted as having had relatively attractive (versus relatively unattractive) former partners, an effect that appears to be moderated by a second variable, namely the former partner's age. We did not find evidence for this bias effect when men rate women whose profiles have been similarly manipulated. These findings suggest the operation of a sex-specific mate choice mechanism

Nonindependent mate choice in humans

Mate choice copying is the most studied type of nonindependent mate choice, i.e. mate choice that is influenced by the choices of other same-sex conspecifics (usually females). In copying, the probability of a male being chosen by a female ('focal' female) increases if he has previously been chosen by other females ('model' females) and decreases if he has been rejected. I critically review the non-human literature and conclude that from an evolutionary perspective copying is ill-suited to monogamous or relatively monogamous species like humans. I propose instead a related process where females are influenced not by a male‟s success at securing mates but by the quality of females that choose him. Although sometimes described as copying, this type of nonindependent mate choice is characterized by distinct evolutionary dynamics and ecological requirements, leads to different testable predictions and must therefore be urgently distinguished from mate choice copying. The term mate quality bias is suggested as an appropriate term for this phenomenon. I also report experimental studies that presented female raters with both static and video images of model females and their supposed partners. The two main findings to emerge from these experiments are a) the main - and perhaps the only - relevant cue in the model female is attractiveness and b) experimental studies can suffer from reduced external validity and need to be supplemented with non-experimental approaches. In line with this latter finding, I report one of the first non-experimental studies of nonindependent mate choice in humans. This involved the administration of a novel questionnaire to a large sample (n=401) of male and female undergraduates. The results of this study provide strong support support for nonindependent mate choice in humans a) being an empirical reality and b)influencing female, but not male choice. Finally, I report two experimental studies which examined how a man's partner influences male-male assessment and competition. The first used the dictator and ultimatum games to examine if offers made to male recipients were influenced by the attractiveness of the recipient‟s partner. The second used the Wason selection task to examine whether male subjects' cheater detection faculties are influenced by the attractiveness of the target male‟s partner (used here as a proxy for dominance). Although the results were generally in the expected direction, experimental manipulation of female partner attractiveness did not significantly affect male raters' perceptions of, and behaviour towards, the target male. The thesis concludes with a critical evaluation of the results obtained herein and suggestions for future research

I like who you like, but only if I like you: Female character affects mate-choice copying.

Mate-choice copying is shown when women imitate the mate-choice preferences of other women. We propose that the preferences of women with a pleasant character should be more influential than those of women with an unpleasant character and further suggest that this should apply only when the female demonstrates active interest in the male, rather than disinterest. Here, we presented women as having either a pleasant or unpleasant character and found that observing pleasant women looking at men increased women’s preferences for those men, while observing unpleasant women looking at men had no effect on women’s preferences. Furthermore, the effect of being looked at by a pleasant woman was heightened when she was smiling. This suggests that judgements of facial attractiveness can be socially influenced and that character affects the degree of influence

Character friendship and moral development in Aristotle’s Ethics

In my thesis, I examine the role of character friendship for the agent’s moral development in Aristotle’s ethics. I contend that we should divide character friendship in two categories: a) character friendship between completely virtuous agents, and, b) character friendship between unequally developed, or, equally developed, yet not completely virtuous agents. Regarding the first category, I argue that this highest form of friendship provides the opportunity for the agent to advance his understanding of certain virtues through the help of his virtuous friend. This process can be expressed in two ways. In the first way, I take character friendship in (a) as a relationship that is based on mutual relinquishing of opportunities for action or giving up external goods based on each agent’s needs. This process helps the agents develop their character in certain virtues which have remained slightly underdeveloped than others due to nature (NE 1144b4-7), or development (Politics 1329a9ff). This means, for instance, that if agent A is wealthy and his friend B is a middle class worker and they win the lottery together, A will relinquish his share of money to his friend so that he will be able to practice the virtue of magnificence; a virtue that his previous financial condition prevented him from developing appropriately. The second process is rather different and new in scholarly debate concerning Aristotle’s theory of moral development. I suggest that the completely virtuous agent is able to further develop his character through a process I will describe as interpretative mimesis. In this process, the agent receives the form of his friend’s action and is able to apply this pattern of behaviour in a situation that he thinks is appropriate. I have to highlight though the fact the fact that he does not just ape his friend’s action. Instead, he interprets the action based on his skills and abilities and the demands of the situations he faces. Thus, this pattern works as an extra epistemological tool in the agent’s hand in new and challenging moral situations. Now, case (b) comes on the opposite side of the majority of scholars’ view on character friendship. They think that Aristotle reserves character friendship only for completely virtuous agents. I argue that this is not the correct approach, and that less than completely virtuous agents can take part in character friendships as well. This view has the advantage of making character friendship in (b) a tool in Aristotle’s hands for his agents of lower moral level to develop their understanding of virtue and its applications. I propose that the route of moral development in case (b) resembles the one in the second process of case (a). Namely, the agent receives the form of his friend’s action and uses it as a pattern in some new situation he has to face. I will not name the process though as “interpretative” or any kind of mimesis. The reason for this is that Aristotle gives us textual evidence (NE 1172a9-14) for an imitative method of moral development only for the second process of case (a). I will take case (b) then as a pattern guide application of my friend’s action which we could call pre-interpretative mimesis period of the agent’s moral development. If my arguments are correct then character friendship is much more valuable than scholars thought. Our friends turn out to be examples of good action who guide us through the sweaty and painful path that is called virtue. And this path never stops; even if we have become “moral heroes”; or, put it differently, “masters” of practical wisdom

Internet gambling in relation to Internet addiction, substance use, online sexual engagement and suicidality in a Greek sample

Research has found gambling to be related to a variety of other addictive behaviours. The study objective was to evaluate the association of Internet gambling with Internet addiction, online sexual engagement, suicidality and substance use, in a sample of Greek adults. The study sample consisted of 789 military personnel. During their annual medical examination the study participants anonymously completed a series of self-reported questionnaires in relation to socio-demographic data, Internet gambling practices, online sexual engagement, Internet addiction, suicidality and psychoactive substance use. We found that Internet addiction significantly predicted engagement with online gambling, followed by substance use in general, and, in particular, the use of cocaine or heroin. Finally, two other predictive indicators were self-reported suicide attempts and engagement with online sex. Online gambling is associated with various behaviours related to impulsivity such as Internet addiction, online sexual engagement, suicidality and substance use. Future research will increase our knowledge on the contribution of new technologies and the Internet in Internet gambling dimensions, as well as on the associations with other high-risk behaviours such as substance use, pornography and suicidality

Criminality in Greece during the years of financial crisis: 2008-2014

The link between poverty, unemployment and economic downturns and increases in crime rates has long been the subject of social science study. However, the relationships between these phenomena has not been studied sufficiently and through time in most European countries that suffered, or, like Greece, are still suffering the recent financial crisis. We examined if the recent financial crisis in Greece has coincided with an increase in crime, analyzing crime rates since the start of the financial crisis and over an extensive time period (7 years). Crime statistics were taken from the Greek Police. Repeated measures analyses of variance were performed to reveal potential differences in criminality for the years 2008, 2010, 2012 and 2014. There was a significant increase in global criminality rate per 100,000 residents (Wilks' Lambda=0.32, F (3,11)=7.93, p=0.004). There was a significant increase in illegal gun possession (Wilks' Lambda=0.16, F (3,11)=18.68, p=0.001), fraud (Wilks' Lambda=0.10, F (3,11)=32.35, p=0.001), extortion (Wilks' Lambda=0.38, F (3,11)=4.45, p=0.040), and beggary (Wilks' Lambda=0.33, F (3,11)=6.22, p=0.014). A reversed U shape was found for homicides, thefts and robberies, with rates peaking in 2010 and 2012 before dropping off in 2014. Narcotics and sexual exploitation crime rates remained unchanged. Surprisingly, the incidence of rape decreased (Wilks' Lambda=0.42, F (3,11)=5.14, p=0.018). Our results are in agreement with the results of previous broader studies as well as with criminological theories according to which in times of economic stress an increase in both property crimes and violent crimes is expected. As predicted, an increase in financial crime was observed (e.g. fraud and extortions) as well as petty crime related to financial hardship like beggary. Concerns regarding the escalation of white-collar crimes in times of economic downturns that have been raised in the literature warrant further investigation

Nonindependent mate choice in monogamy

First paragraph: Individuals usually mate with opposite-sex others based on their own assessment of prospective mates' suitability (reviews in Kempenaers 2007; Roberts and Little 2008), but this assessment can also be modulated by observing decisions of others-so-called nonindependent mate choice. We have proposed the term "mate quality bias" to describe the type of nonindependent mate choice that occurs when a female biases her own evaluation of a male in accordance with his mate's quality (Vakirtzis and Roberts 2009). This type of nonindependent choice should be expected to occur in monogamous or relatively monogamous species where, due to mutual choice, there will usually exist a high correlation between a male's quality and his mate's quality (Trivers 1972; Burley 1977; Johnstone 1997). In these species, the most desirable males will tend to mate with the most desirable females and less desirable individuals will be left to mate among themselves (Burley 1983; Jones and Ratterman 2009). In principle, this selective mapping between male and female quality will not obtain in promiscuous and polygynous species, where, due to minimal male choice and high male mating skew, the top males will mate with all willing females, whereas lower quality males will achieve fewer or no mating opportunities. In these species, it is thus unlikely that an observing female will deduce reliable information about the male from the quality of his mate; rather, the frequency of partners and/or copulations may be a more useful cue. Use of such cues in mate assessment is known as mate choice copying (Pruett-Jones 1992; Dugatkin 1998)