When I signed up to take this course on the topics of love, sex and friendship along with the philosophy behind these relationships, I did not expect to learn as much as I did and I did not think that the arguments would change my way of thinking due to already having taken a class on ethics with Dr. Blincoe in the fall. However, at the end of the semester, my opinion has changed drastically. At the beginning of the course, the basics of ethics were covered as they had been in my previous class. Towards the middle of the semester, I began to learn about the philosophical reasoning behind various types of relationships and different views about how these relationships develop or grow. The texts provided in class allowed me to reflect on my previous and current relationships along with giving reasons for certain occurrences within my relationships.

My favorite reading assigned during the course was C.S. Lewis’ The Four Loves. Even though it was written in the 1960s, I was able to relate to and apply the content to my personal relationships. The chapter “Eros” talked about the role of erotic love and sex within a relationship which allowed me to examine my previous relationships and my current relationships. Also in this book, the section on friendship and the different facets of friendship provided arguments and explanations as to why some of my friendships dissolved and reasons why some of my friendships are as strong as they are. Going into future relationships, I will put more thought into the characteristics of the other person and whether the relationship will be beneficial or not based on the material that I learned in class. Before, I thought that there were only three types of love: friendship, parental and romantic. This course has taught me that there are so many more types and there are multiple aspects to every kind of love. I especially enjoyed the guest lecturer that explained the psychology behind love which furthered my understanding of the different types of love and the ways these types affect our lives.

As a part of the course, we had to write papers about certain themes in the class that argue for or against the material presented in class. These papers allowed me to better understand the matter and allow me to form an argument for or against each topic. The attached paper is one that I wrote on the topic of whether males and females could be friends without the friendship evolving into a romantic relationship.