Raef Lambertson

What is a Friend?

Raef Lambertson is kind-hearted and thoughtful 11 year old. He is a 6 th grader at South Middle School . His favorite classes are math and H.O.T.S (an accelerated learning class period.)

Like many 11 year old boys, Raef enjoys eating and sleeping. He also likes watching TV, playing soccer, and reading. He is currently reading The Redwall series by Brian Jacques. He also likes to read mysteries and epics like Lord of the Rings . He also enjoys watching movies. Three of his favorite recent movies are, The Mummy , Napoleon Dynamite , and Dodgeball . After I interviewed Raef, he and his two sisters treated me to a showing of Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure . There was a lot of laughing in Raef's living room as we watched together. If you have not seen Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure , you should. The great philosopher, Socrates, is in the movie!

Raef loves acting. He has acted in a long list of plays put on by the Morgantown Theatre Company. He has played leading roles in Babes in Toyland (as Jack), Stone Soup (as Francois), and The Creepy Creeps of Pilgrim Road (as Sinbad). He is busy rehearsing for his role as Bugsy Malone in the February 2006 production of Bugsy Malone. Raef loves acting so much that he hopes to be an actor someday.

Raef has traveled to Germany , Switzerland , Italy , and France with his parents and two sisters. He loves his dog, Willow , a Black Lab and Border Collie mix. Raef and Willow run in the woods together, to keep Raef in good shape for soccer. Raef can do 100 sit-ups without a break!

Raef chose the philosophical question, “What is a friend?” As I expected, Raef had a very thoughtful answer. “A friend is someone who is loyal, trustworthy, and always there for you. A friendship has to be a mutual relationship. If you are loyal, trustworthy, and always there for another person, but they do not treat you the same way, that person is not a real friend. Similarly, if a person is loyal, trustworthy, and always there for you, but you do not treat them the same way, then you are not a true friend.” For Raef, reciprocity within the relationship is as important as the virtues of loyalty and trust that comprise friendship. Philosophers wonder about this question because it is interesting, in and of itself. Everyone has pondered the question at some point. However, it becomes especially interesting when you think about friendship and ethics. It seems that the demands of friendship and morality can sometimes conflict. It appears that doing the right thing all the time might prevent a person from being a true friend some of the time. Why? Friendship seems to require special treatment. Friends, it seems, deserve preferential treatment. Morality, however, seems to require fairness, or impartiality. Imagine, for example, that you did not give your friend preferential treatment in a conflict between a friend and another person. Would that action prevent you from being a true friend? Would acting morally sometimes conflict with the virtues of friendship? Or, is it possible to be both a true friend and a moral person in all situations? Think about it!