Many would be surprised to find that I reject many of the standard categoriztions of relationships. While this may seem odd at first, it is in keeping with my personal philosophy and manner of thinking about many other topics. Additionally, cultures do not all see relationships in the same way and there are different categories in different nations, and the meaning and expectations of the relationships between types differ.
It would be a mistake to take the approach of one culture rather than take the approach of one’s surrounding culture, for obvious reasons. But all that amounts to is making sure one has the ability to meet the expectations of others in day to day relationship related behavior.
One can still think in ways that are more sophisticated, and more accurate, than in the ways that were prepared in advance, in a simple way, for us in our own environment.
It would be a stretch to say there is a common understanding of any relationship concept in the various cultures, so it must be admitted, that what we think a relationship is, is very much defined for us. This connects with our ideas about what moral behavior consists of in the various relationships, but then we need to recognize even this is just a cultural construct.
While I’m interested in this topic, as usual, I need to use the opportunity to introduce the reader to other concepts I think are more useful and important in connection with my other writings, especially in preparation for the more important papers that are forthcoming.
It is possible to think of relationships in a way that does not commit to the actual words in question. The simplest relationship to start with to understand what I mean is the idea of a friend.
I reject the idea of a friend as ambiguous and unnecessary. Nevertheless I admit that I adopt this vague term in practice because it is necessary for others.
What does this do for us:
There isn’t too much to the idea that relationships do not need to be categorized quite the way that we categorize them. Stepping back from these concepts to look meticulously at them in an observant way, substituting paragraphs and sentences for single words.
We’ll see this idea coming up again and again, and perhaps there is a better term for it, but I see it as conceptlessness, becasue there is no commitment to any particular single concept or set of concepts to summarily describe anything whatsoever, and that all phenomena are so complex that it is better to abandon any particular word, phrase or sentence, for longer phrases and sentences and paragraphs and books to characterize the same more accurately. It is accepting that sophistication results in more knowledge and informaiton and not less.
I am a retired executive, software architect, and consultant, with professional/academic experience in the fields of Moral Philosophy and Ethics, Computer Science, Psychology, Philosophy, and more recently, Economics. I am a Pandisciplinarian, and Lifetime Member of the High Intelligence Community.
Articles on this site are eclectic, and draw from content prepared between 1980 and 2024. Topics touch on all of life's categories, and blend them with logical rationality and my own particular system of ethics. The common theme connecting all articles is moral philosophy, even if that is not immediately apparent. Any of my articles that touch on "the good and virtuous life" will be published here. These articles interrelate with my incipient theory of ethics, two decades in preparation. This Book and Journal is the gradual unfolding of that ethic, and my living autobiography, in a collection of individual books that fit into groups of book collections.
This Book and Journal is already one of the largest private websites and writings ever prepared, at nearly 1 million words, greater than 50,000 images and videos, and nearly one terabyte of space utilized. The entire software architecture is of my creation. Issues of the book for sale can be found under featured. These texts are handmade by myself, and are of excellent quality, and constitute the normal issues of my journal that can also be subscribed to. The entire work is a transparent work in progress. Not all is complete, and it will remain in an incomplete state until death.
I welcome and appreciate constructive feedback and conversation with readers. You can reach me at mattanaw@mattanaw.com (site related), cmcavanaugh@g.harvard.edu (academic related), or christopher.matthew.cavanaugh@member.mensa.org (intelligence related), or via the other social media channels listed at the bottom of the site.