Freiheit und selbst-gewinn durch freundschaft: nicht-kommerzielle gastfreundschaftsnetzwerke im lichte der praktischen philosophie

Abstract

In order to understand the “non-commercial” hospitality-networks of the digital age, such as “Couchsurfing”, it is useful to look at some underlying ethical principles. What did hospitality originally mean and how did the focus change with Aristotle’s Nicomachean ethics? Since then and up to the present day interesting inner difficulties have arisen. These difficulties can lead us to a deeper understanding of today’s forms of tourism and hospitality, notably of non-commercial forms. The “classical” ideal of hospitality will be explained in the context of Aristotle’s virtue of friendship, which he described as the basis for social life and citizenship. Potential guests, foreigners, strangers or others, should be valued according to their social contribution. Hospitality lost its ‘holy’ nature as once a religious duty, and became a question of benefit, with the emergence of xenophobia as a means of protecting traditional ways of life. Today’s new forms of hospitality differ fundamentally in these aspects, especially the noncommercial forms which emphasize the idea of a mutual understanding among people, human rights and “shared” values. Nevertheless, there are interesting parallels to be explored such as “Couchsurfers” which show some ambivalence and stress the idea of benefit.