Damian Caluori 
Thinking about Friendship 
Historical and Contemporary Philosophical Perspectives

It’s hard to imagine a good life without friends. But why is friendship so valuable? What is friendship at all? What unites friends and distinguishes them from others? Is the preference given to friends rationally and morally justifiable? This collection examines answers given by classic philosophers and offers new answers by contemporary thinkers.

Table of Content

Acknowledgements Notes on Contributors Introduction; D.Caluori PART I: THE NATURE OF FRIENDSHIP Aristotle’s Notion of Friendship; S.Benetatos The Character of Friendship; L.Thomas PART II: THE UNITY OF FRIENDSHIP Friendship in Kallipolis; D.Caluori Montaigne’s ‘Perfect’ Friendship; U.Langer PART III: FRIENDSHIP AND REASON Relationships and Emotions; M.Slote Friendships: Epistemically Dangerous Liaisons?; C.Brown How to be a Non-Reductionist About Reasons of Friendship; J.Seidman PART IV: FRIENDSHIP AND MORALITY Friendship in Kant’s Moral Thought; O.Sensen Consequentialism and Friendship; A.Norcross Can a Christian be a Friend? On God, Friendship and Love of Neighbour; J.Lippitt PART V: FRIENDSHIP IN A GOOD LIFE The Goods of Friendship; T.Hurka Friendship and Friends in the Stoic Theory of the Good Life; A.A.Long Aesthetics and the Art of Friendship; S.Lintott References Index

About the author

Damian Caluori is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Trinity University. His research focuses on Ancient Philosophy, in particular Plato and late ancient Platonism. He has published articles on Plato, Aristotle, Plotinus, Damascius, and the Renaissance skeptic Franciscus Sanchez, whose main work, That Nothing is Known, he co-translated from Latin into German.