Friendship: Philosophical Explorations

Friendship and Philosophy

Friendship has been a central topic for philosophical reflection ever since philosophy itself was born in the circle of friends who gathered around Socrates to follow his probing examinations of how we should live.

Collection Overview

In this outstanding collection, which takes its lead from the work of Alexander Nehamas, a distinguished roster of contributors examines the many dimensions of the philosophy of friendship. They broaden the discussion beyond common questions about friendship obligations and their relation to the claims of morality to explore a much wider set of issues, including:

Topics Covered

friendship in the context of Plato, Aristotle, Montaigne, Kant, Goethe, William James, and Nietzsche

the darker side of friendship and frenemies

friendship in literature and film, including Andre Aciman's Call Me by Your Name and Andrey Zvyagintsev's The Return

dogs and friendship

friendship and aesthetic judgment

Nehamas's own distinctive analogy between the value of friendship and the value of beauty

Intended Audience

Friendship: Philosophical Explorations will be of interest to those in philosophy studying and researching ethics and aesthetics, as well as students and scholars in related disciplines such as literature and film.