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:	9780199205394
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	05/03/2007
Series:	Oxford Philosophical Monographs
Pages:	208
Product dimensions:	8.50(w) x 5.30(h) x 0.80(d)

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

1. Aquinas on friendship: larger themes2. What concord requires3. Friendship and conformity of wills4. What prevents us from joining other people's projects: pride as an impediment to conformity of wills5. Friendship and uncertainty: presumptions and hope6. Friendship and recourse to justice7. Justice, satisfaction, and restoration of friendship8. Concluding Remarks