Table of Contents

Introduction

Part I: Friendship

1 Repeatable Reasons, Irreplaceable Friends

2 What Shared Identity Means In Friendship

3 Why Bad People Can’t Be Good Friends

Part II: Robots

4 False Friends And False Coinage: A Tool For Navigating The Ethics Of Sociable Robots

5 What’s Wrong With Robot ‘Friends’ For Lonely Seniors?

6 Counterfeit Currency Versus Monopoly Money: Using Appearances To Build Capacities

7 Should You Buy Yourself A ‘Friend’? Ethics Of Consumer Markets For Robot Companions

Part III: Social Media

8 Humans Aren’t Cows: An Aristotelian Defense Of Technologically-Mediated Friendship

9 Taking Control Of Conversations Through Technologically-Mediated Communication

10 What Words Can’t Say: Emoji And Other Non-Verbal Elements Of Technologically-Mediated Communication

11 The Moral Import Of Medium

About the Author

Alexis M. Elder is an assistant professor of philosophy at the University of Minnesota Duluth. Her research focuses on friendship and social technologies. Her publications include "Excellent Online Friendships: An Aristotelian Defense of Social Media" in Ethics and Information Technology, and "Zhuangzi on Friendship and Death" in Southern Journal of Philosophy.