What Makes a Real Friend? Philosophy Department Connects Ancient Ideas to Modern Life at the Junior and Senior Classical League Conference

By Stephanie Godward, Communications and Marketing Director, College of Arts & Sciences 

Associate Professor of Philosophy Boomer Trujillo recently delivered a keynote address and led an interactive workshop on Aristotle’s concepts of friendship at the regional Junior and Senior Classical League conference held at Louisville’s Manual High School. 

The session, which took place this past fall, engaged students ages 11 to 18, drawing connections between ancient philosophical ideas and modern understandings of true friendship.  

“Friendship is fun to talk about,” Trujillo said. “It's something that a lot of people have opinions about, and the Aristotle stuff is super influential, such that even today, if you talk about friendship and philosophy, you have to talk about those ideas.” 

In terms of friendship, Aristotle provides interesting categories that can be disputed, making it an immediately accessible philosophical concept for young students. Aristotle's categories of friendship include two forms of casual friendships, called friendships of pleasure and friendships of use.  

“Even when you're 12, you understand that there are friends who can help you with homework, and those are friendships of use. And there are friends you enjoy playing Minecraft with, and those are friendships of pleasure,” Trujillo said. “But then there's the deep friendship, which is the friendship of virtue. They have an idea of - whom are they spending their time with?”  

Eli Rabin, an 8^th grade student at Louisville Classical Academy, said, “Professor Trujillo’s engaging talk about Aristotle’s notion of friendship taught me how classical philosophy can help us understand modern problems.” 

Through thoughtful and accessible questions—such as whether AI or chatbots can be true friends, or how friendship works across differences in beliefs or social backgrounds—Trujillo led students in meaningful discussion and reflection. Trujillo said it was interesting to see a younger generation expressing skepticism about technology, because they're the ones who are who are going to be dealing with it the most. 

"The high school juniors and seniors were very intense. They were picking things apart, they were asking me interesting, detailed questions whenever I was going by the table,” Trujillo said. “You do run into the type that is very optimistic about technology and thinking that, for example, we could be friends with AI, but I really do feel like the high schoolers were incredibly skeptical of it. They were just like, ‘Yeah, this can't happen. They are not human. They don't have the right emotions.’ They just saw so many gaps in trying to treat AI as a friend.” 

Joanne Fairhurst, Faculty Director of the Junior Classical League chapter at Louisville Classical Academy and teacher of spoken Latin, said: "At the JCL Fall Forum lecture, Boomer remarkably quickly brought the students into philosophical conversation, comparing Aristotle’s concept of friendship in Ancient Greece to modern day conceptions of friendship. His questions around how the ancient concept gel with students’ experiences of true friendship were immediately accessible to the students and resonated with them. Can a chatbot offer true friendship? Can you have true friendship with those who are of a different class, belief system? As a table group, students were genuinely grappling with and considering these questions. It is how every talk should be—thought- provoking, challenging, indelible.” 

“The talk was very inspiring and interesting and made me think about friendship and what it means and I thought Boomer Trujillo was funny and engaging,” Phineas Burke, a 7^th grade student at Louisville Classical Academy, said. 

Rafa Elpidorou, an 8^th grade student at Louisville Classical Academy, said, “Professor Trujillo’s talk explained friendship in several categories through an Aristotelian lens, inspiring listeners to strive to make meaningful friendships with their fellow students and other peers.” 

Jonas Fleischer, a 9^th grade student at Louisville Classical Academy, said, "Professor Trujillo's lecture on Aristotle and friendship was fascinating and was truly one of the most interesting lectures I've had the pleasure of hearing; I especially enjoyed contemplating and discussing the questions he posed to us." 

Trujillo said he hopes the students carry the exercise of critical thinking forward with them into the future, along with the importance of maintaining different kinds of friendships in life. 

"It’s really important to try to consider who your friends are and consider what you're getting out of the friendship,” he said. "One of the things that's important for me as an adult is not denigrating casual friendships. Friendships of pleasure and friendships of use are friendship, and they're still very important. Are they your best friends? No. Does that mean you can ignore them? No, totally not. It’s super important to have people you can enjoy your time with and as an adult, hopefully, they'll think about this.”