What is the most ethical decision when two of your friends are mad at each other?

Hello everyone. I wanted to start a discussion on something that I’ve being thinking a lot about in the last few days. <br><br>**The Problem:**<br><br>Two of your best friends, Andrew and Charlie for example, are mad at each other. The reason is not important. In my case it’s stupid and based on pride and misunderstandings. Because of this, you have to spend your time with each of them separately, while avoiding talking about the other. This is obviously a less fun and more stressful experience than hanging out with both. <br><br>Not only that, but this situation can be a big problem for you in the future. If you can’t spend time with your two best friends anymore, what’s gonna happen? In the worst case scenario, the friendship between the two of you could become more cold. This is especially a problem if you have known both of them for a long time (in my case for over 20 years). So, if the conflict between A and C continues, you will spend less and less time with both of them. This could result in you ultimately having less contact with both of them. <br><br>What is the best approach in this situation? <br><br>**My Solution:**<br><br>The best approach is to equally spend time with both A and C. This means you just act like nothing has happened, and you hang out with both of them without any fear of offending the other. <br><br>**Objections:**<br><br>1. If you hang out with both equally, you will have to lie to them. This is immoral. This is not necessarily true. It’s possible to spend time with both of them just without talking about the other. This isn’t lying. <br><br>2. If you hang out with A, then C will maybe think you are taking A’s side. The same is obviously true if you spend time with C. This is a classic problem. If you hang out with one person, then the other person will maybe feel offended. But this is based on the idea that you can’t be friends with two people that are not friends with each other. This is obviously not true. Imagine if every parent had to decide between two of their children. The solution is simply to hang out with both of them. <br><br>3. If A and C are mad at each other, then they will not want you to spend time with both of them equally. Well, if that’s the case, then they are just childish. If you have two friends that you can’t spend time with anymore, because one of them is mad at the other, then that is your problem, not mine. You cannot expect me to just hang out with one of you, and not the other. Not only that, but taking sides would also maybe make the whole situation worse. <br><br>Of course, this isn’t meant for two friends that are sworn enemies. But as I said in my example, my two friends aren’t like that. They just have pride and can’t talk to each other at the moment. <br><br>**Conclusion:**<br><br>This approach is also based on the idea that each person has different personalities. So, if you are a more childish and petty person, then you will be offended if one of your good friends spends time with another of your friends who you don’t like. This is the wrong approach. The right approach is to hang out with everyone. It’s much more fun and much less stressful to just hang out with whoever you want without any fear. This is obviously much easier if you’re not a petty person.