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A splendid new translation of one of the greatest books on friendship ever written In a world where social media, online relationships, and relentless self-absorption threaten the very idea of deep and lasting friendships, the search for true friends is more important than ever. In this short book, which is one of the greatest ever written on the subject, the famous Roman politician and philosopher Cicero offers a compelling guide to finding, keeping, and appreciating friends. With wit and wisdom, Cicero shows us not only how to build friendships but also why they must be a key part of our lives. For, as Cicero says, life without friends is not worth living. Filled with timeless advice and insights, Cicero's heartfelt and moving classic--written in 44 BC and originally titled De Amicitia--has inspired readers for more than two thousand years, from St. Augustine and Dante to Thomas Jefferson and John Adams. Presented here in a lively new translation with the original Latin on facing pages and an inviting introduction, How to Be a Friend explores how to choose the right friends, how to avoid the pitfalls of friendship, and how to live with friends in good times and bad. Cicero also praises what he sees as the deepest kind of friendship--one in which two people find in each other "another self" or a kindred soul. An honest and eloquent guide to finding and treasuring true friends, How to Be a Friend speaks as powerfully today as when it was first written.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

• Part One
• 1. "A Friend Is Another Self": Aristotelian Foundations
• 2. "A Sort of Secession": The Emergence of Modern Friendship
• 3. A Structure of the Soul" Friendship and the Arts Part Two
• 4. "And So On": Why Do We Love Our Friends?
• 5. "No Sense of Humor": A Friendship Breaks Down
• 6. The Good of Friendship.
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Friends are a constant feature of our lives, yet friendship itself is difficult to define. Even Michel de Montaigne, author of the seminal essay "Of Friendship, " found it nearly impossible to account for the great friendship of his life. Why is something so commonplace and universal so hard to grasp? What is it about the nature of friendship that proves so elusive? In On Friendship, the acclaimed philosopher Alexander Nehamas launches an original and far-ranging investigation of friendship. Exploring the long history of philosophical thinking on the subject, from Aristotle to Emerson and beyond, and drawing on examples from literature, art, drama, and his own life, Nehamas shows that for centuries, friendship was as much a public relationship as it was a private one-inseparable from politics and commerce, favors and perks. Now that it is more firmly in the private realm, Nehamas holds, close friendship is central to the good life. Profound and affecting, On Friendship sheds light on why we love our friends-and how they determine who we are, and who we might become.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

• Envoi
• Une longue liaison (Marie du Deffand et Voltaire)
• Amitiés paranoïaques (Jean-Jacques Rousseau et Denis Diderot)
• Une fidélité de jeunes filles (Manon Roland et Sophie Cannet)
• La tête froide et le coeur chaud (Nicolas Chamfort et Honoré de Mirabeau)
• Une amitié de collège (Maximilien Robespierre et Camille Desmoulins)
• Comment réparer l'amitié ? (François-René de Chateaubriand et sa soeur Lucile)
• Camarades des champs et des lettres (Gustave Flaubert et Maxime Du Camp)
• La poésie amicale de la taïga (Vladimir Arseniev et Dersou Ouzala)
• No Sex : une pure amitié à trois (Gilda, Tom et George, dans Sérénade à trois)
• L'amitié est le marchepied de la haine (François Truffaut et Jean-Luc Godard)
• Le garçon et la bête (Belle et Sébastien)
• Une amitié intellectuelle (Mona Ozouf et François Furet).

""Passion douce" par excellence, l'amitié est ici racontée à travers quelques liens exemplaires, ceux qui ont pu unir Voltaire et Mme Du Deffand, Rousseau et Diderot, Robespierre et Desmoulins, Chateaubriand et sa soeur, Flaubert et Du Camp, ou encore, plus récemment, Godard et Truffaut, Belle et Sébastien, François Furet et Mona Ozouf. Alors que la vision contemporaine de l'amitié est de plus en plus utilitaire et comptable, cet essai préfère plonger au coeur d'un autre laboratoire de l'amitié, ce qui permet de la décrire à chaque reprise comme une expérience affectueuse et historique, matérielle et spirituelle, dont la naissance, l'évolution, la mort, sont relatées avec une précision qui en révèle le sens. Comment devient-on amis, selon quelles modalités ? Qu'est-ce qui prolonge l'amitié, ou au contraire la contrarie et la met à mal ? Pourquoi se métamorphose-t-elle si souvent en jalousie, voire en haine ? Ne peut-elle pas durer éternellement ? Autant de questions auxquelles l'auteur répond en historien du sensible."--P. [4] of cover.

A central bond, a cherished value, a unique relationship, a profound human need, a type of love. What is the nature of friendship, and what is its significance in our lives? How has friendship changed since the ancient Greeks began to analyze it, and how has modern technology altered its very definition? In this fascinating exploration of friendship through the ages, one of the most thought-provoking philosophers of our time tracks historical ideas of friendship, gathers a diversity of friendship stories from the annals of myth and literature, and provides unexpected insights into our friends, ourselves, and the role of friendships in an ethical life. A. C. Grayling roves the rich traditions of friendship in literature, culture, art, and philosophy, bringing into his discussion familiar pairs as well as unfamiliar--Achilles and Patroclus, David and Jonathan, Coleridge and Wordsworth, Huck Finn and Jim. Grayling lays out major philosophical interpretations of friendship, then offers his own take, drawing on personal experiences and an acute awareness of vast cultural shifts that have occurred. With penetrating insight he addresses internet-based friendship, contemporary mixed gender friendships, how friendships may supersede family relationships, one's duty within friendship, the idea of friendship to humanity, and many other topics of universal interest.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

• Introduction: Thesis and Plan of the Book Concept of Moral Paradigm Moral Paradigms in Hellenic and Hellenistic Cultures Friendship in Hellenic and Hellenistic Moral Theory Friendship in Medieval Moral Theory Friendship in Modern Moral Theory Friendship in Contemporary Moral Theory Friendship as an Ontological Need Notes About The Author Works Cited Index.
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Friendship was recognized as a central moral value in the classical period, but it was dismissed from medieval, modern, and twentieth century moral theories. This book argues that this dismissal is unjustifiable. The validity of this claim is established in four steps. First, it proposes the concept of moral paradigm. This concept enables us to explore the source of moral value and to provide a criterion for the evaluation of the adequacy of moral theory. Second, the book explains why medieval, modern and twentieth century moral theorists neglected friendship as a central moral value in their analysis of moral behavior and why this neglect was unjustifiable. Third, it explains why the classical moral philosophers viewed friendship as a central moral value. Fourth, it argues that friendship is an ontological need, therefore, a necessary condition of the moral life. This need is implicitly recognized in the moral paradigms that underlie the moral theories of the medieval, modern, and twentieth century moral theories. Accordingly it cannot be neglected in the process of moral theorizing.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

Aristotle prized friendship. Kierkegaard judged it sinful. But from playground to grave, friendships play a critical role in our lives. Friendships define and even replace relationships with siblings and parents; they can last decades longer than some marriages, and be just as turbulent and passionate. With 'the big society' and social networking dominating the headlines, modern friendships and how we create and maintain them are very much under debate. In The Book of Friendship, Josie Barnard explores this elusive and potent phenomenon. Moving seamlessly from Boudicca to Jennifer Aniston, from Nietszche to Morecambe & Wise, she examines how friendship is affected by class, gender and geography, and the circumstances that can turn a passing acquaintance into a lifelong friend. The Book of Friendship discusses with wit, intelligence and sparkling insight every aspect of this alluring, uplifting, vital relationship.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

• Acknowledgements Illustrations Introduction Friends at Work Friends and Lovers Faking It Friending online Unconditional Love Politics of Friendship Prophetic Friendship The Spirituality of Friendship Friendship Beyond Self-help Further Reading and References Index.
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A tremendous burden is being placed on friends. Individuals want friends more than family. Couples want to marry a friend - a very novel idea. And at the social level, politicians, sociologists, even bishops realise that in the anonymity of the networked age, friendship is increasingly important to care, commitment and belonging. Friendship, we believe or hope, is elastic enough to connect us across the web of complex lives, and strong enough not to snap. But is it? For whilst many are turning to friendship, few are asking what they are turning to. In this new, accessible philosophy of friendship, Mark Vernon examines the love called friendship upon which so much happiness depends. He links the resources of the philosophical tradition with numerous illustrations from modern culture to ask about friendship and sex, work, politics and spirituality. Unusually, he argues that Plato and Nietzsche, as much as Aristotle and Aelred, should be put centre stage. Their penetrating and occasionally tough insights are invaluable if friendship is to be a full, not merely sentimental, way of life for today. In this new version of his book previously published as The Philosophy of Friendship, Mark Vernon also tackles friendship and the internet exploring the rise of social networking sites and asking how notions of friendship may or may not be changing, for good or ill, because of the internet. He also adds a chapter on the psychology of friendship, looking at notions of friendship that arise from evolutionary psychology.
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• The Tattered Emblem-- The Tattered Emblem (Continued)-- Indian Resurgence and the Rhetoric of Brotherhood-- The Rhetoric of Spirit-- The Hinterland of Memory-- Galapagos Beasties-- The "Specter" of Multiculturalism-- The Bogey of the Unfamiliar-- The Horizon of Religious Amity-- Epilogue.
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A collection of nine phenomenological essays by Margaret Chatterjee, ranging across cultures and time periods, and studying the historical and cultural evolution of the idea of amity and the concomitant concepts of fraternity, friendship and tolerance. The work starts with the Enlightenment's idea of fraternity and its destruction during the fratricide of the French Terror. It includes chapters focusing on the encounters between colonisers and missionaries, the impact of the Holocaust on the search for amity, the prospect for amity in contemporary multiculturalism, and the potential of religion to deepen the experience of amity. The work offers an interdisciplinary analysis of the bases of discord and harmony, of history and memory.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

• Preface Introduction Chapter one: What is Friendship?-- Chapter Two: Friendship, Modernity and Trust-- Chapter Three-- Friendship and the Self-- Chapter Four: Friendship in Context, Chapter Five: Social Support, Social Capital and the Politics of Friendship Conclusion Further Reading More Detailed References Index.
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Friends can help to form the basic structure of our lives but we very often take them for granted. Friends can sometimes be regarded as an oppressive burden when they appear to be greedily demanding too much of us. How to get the balance right is a perennial concern and the subject of much fiction and drama. But has this always been the case or is the nature and meaning of friendship changing in contemporary society? Ray Pahl explores these issues as well as discussing who needs friends most and when, how friends make us the people that we are and whether friendship is a new metaphor for morality.Pahl brings refreshing new insights to a form of relationship that has changed in its meaning and significance since the classical discussion by Aristotle. Drawing on a wide range of material, including history, philosophy, psychology and sociology, he focuses it into distinctive shafts of light which illuminate different aspects of this rich and multi-faceted topic. Understanding friendship is important at the private level, as we struggle with the problem of personal identity in a kaleidoscopic world, and also at the public level where inappropriate friendship emerges as cronyism or subtle varieties of political corruption. This accessible jargon-free book will appeal to a wide readership, since it does much to illuminate a fascinating topic at many different levels.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

Jacques Derrida is known primarily, and until recently, as the major proponent of deconstruction; always somewhat disengaged from the central political questions of the day. Derrida's "political turn" was marked by the appearance of "Specters of Marx". In this study, Jacques Derrida renews this orientation through an examination of the political history of the idea of friendship pursued down the ages. Derrida's thoughts are haunted throughout the book by the strange and provocative address attributed to Aristotle, "O my friends, there is no friend", and its inversions by later philosophers, such as Montaigne, Kant, Nietzsche, Schmitt and Blanchot. The exploration allows Derrida to recall and re-stage the ways in which all the oppositional couples of Western philosophy and political thought - friendship and enmity, private and public life - have become dangerously unstable. At the same time, he dissects geneology itself, the familiar and male-centred notion of fraternity and the virile virtue whose autority has gone unquestioned in the Western culture of friendship and modern models of democracy. The future of the political, for Derrida, becomes the future of friends, the invention of a radically new friendship, of a deeper and more inclusive democracy.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

Originally published as Volume 2 of "Research in the Interweave of Social Roles", this book is now reprinted as a paperback edition. Topics include: a life-span approach to friendship; communal diffusion of friendship; and feminism, female friends and the reconstruction of intimacy.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)