Friendship: Philosophical Reflections on a Perennial Concern

This anthology offers an extraordinary illustration of the rich resources furnished by the philosophical tradition for anyone wishing to understand the basic and universal human concern of friendship. The book gathers together reflections from thirty different thinkers in a historically, culturally, ideologically and emotionally diverse group. These contributions, ranging from the Ancients through to contemporary thought from C.S. Lewis, afford a comprehensive treatment of this enduring topic. Contents: Ancient and Medieval: The Epic of Gilgamesh; Hesiod, Theogony; Plato, Lysis; Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics; Seneca, Epistulae Morales; Epicetus, Discourses; Cicero, Treatise on Friendship; Plutarch, Moralia; St. Augustine, Confessions; St. Aelred of Rievaulx, De Spiritali Amicitia; St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica. Early Modern: Michel de Montaigne, Essays; Baruch de Spinoza, Ethics; Thomas Hobbes, The Citizen; Nicholas Malebranche, The Search After Truth. Late Modern: David Hume, An Enquiry concerning the Principles of Morals; Immanuel Kant, The Doctrine of Virtue; G.W.F. Hegel, Early Theological Writings; Arthur Schopenhauer, The World as Will and Representation; Soren Kierkegaard, Either/Or; Ralph Waldo Emerson, Essays; Friedrich Nietzsche, Human, All-Too-Human and The Joyful Wisdom. Contemporary: George Santayana, The Life of Reason; C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves; Jean-Paul Sartre, Situations; J. Glenn Gray, The Warriors; Hannah Arendt, On Humanity in Dark Times; Mary E. Hunt, Friends and Family Values; Gilbert Meilaender, When Harry Met Sally; Read The Nichomachean Ethics; Bibliography: For Further Reading; Index.