Aquinas on Friendship

by Daniel Schwartz

Overview

Daniel Schwartz examines the views on friendship of the great medieval philosopher Thomas Aquinas. For Aquinas friendship is the ideal type of relationship that rational beings should cultivate. Schwartz argues that Aquinas fundamentally revises some of the main features of Aristotle's paradigmatic account of friendship so as to accommodate the case of friendship between radically unequal beings: man and God. As a result, Aquinas presents a broader view of friendship than Aristotle's, allowing for a higher extent of disagreement. lack of mutual understanding, and inequality between friends.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780191607134
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	03/01/2007
Series:	Oxford Philosophical Monographs
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Daniel Schwartz is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Political Science and the Department of International Relations at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Table of Contents

Abbreviations and Conventions     xv
Larger Themes     1
Friendship and Amicitia     1
The Importance of Friends     3
Acts of Friendship     6
What Concord Requires     22
'Concord is a Union of Wills, Not of Opinions'     22
Disagreement and Friendship     31
Why Conflicting Beliefs Alone Do Not Create Discord: A Look at Heresy     34
Conclusion     41
Friendship and Conformity of Wills     42
Background     43
Conformity of Wills and the Friend's Reasons     46
Conformity of Wills and Disparity of Circumstances     57
Ways of Willing the Same     61
Political Implications of Aquinas's Position on the Conformity of Wills of Friendship     66
What Prevents Us from Joining Other People's Projects?: Pride as an Impediment to Conformity of Wills     69
Nilling What Another Wills: Schism, Sedition, and Discord     70
Vainglory and Unwillingness to Agree with Others     72
Pride and Unwillingness to Agree with Others     74
Conformity of Wills Revisited     87
The Law as a Cure for Pride     88
Human Institutions and Pride     90
Summary     92
Friendship and Uncertainty: Presumptions and Hope     94
Present Friendship and the Presumption of Authenticity     95
Hope and Future Friendship     107
Conclusion     121
Friendship and Recourse to Justice     123
Justice between Friends     124
Friendship as a Condition of Just Exchange     133
Summary     139
Justice, Satisfaction, and Restoration of Friendship     142
Satisfaction and Friendship     143
Friendship and Quantitative Satisfaction     151
Summary     160
Concluding Remarks     162
The Duality of the Rational Volition in Christ's Human Nature and Friendship with God     165
Bibliography     167
Index Locorum     175
Index of Subjects     182
Index of Names and Places     187