Understanding Friendship: On the Moral, Political, and Spiritual Meaning of Love

by Gary Chartier

Overview

What is friendship? Is it ethically important? Does it exist outside ethics? Is it a potential distraction from the love of God or from moral responsibility? How might it nourish our spiritual lives? How should we make sense of the moral responsibilities we often take ourselves to have to our friends? Does friendship have anything to do with politics?

Understanding Friendship answers these questions by painting a picture of friendship as a vibrant expression of Christian love that can enrich individual lives even as in various ways it can also prove socially, culturally, politically, and spiritually significant. Through a wide-ranging, erudite, yet accessible exploration of theological and philosophical traditions, Understanding Friendship examines what friendship is while showing how its distinctive moral status can be supported by multiple approaches to Christian ethics. Understanding Friendship ultimately reveals friendship's place in a fruitful understanding of Christian spirituality.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781506479095
Publisher:	Augsburg Fortress, Publishers
Publication date:	02/01/2022
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	247
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Gary Chartier is Distinguished Professor of Law and Business Ethics and associate dean of the Tom and Vi Zapara School of Business at La Sierra University in Riverside, California. A legal scholar, philosopher, political theorist, and theologian, he is the author of numerous books, including Flourishing Lives (2019), Radicalizing Rawls (2014),The Analogy of Love (2017), and Understanding Friendship (2022).

Table of Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1: Contours

Chapter 2: Interactions

Chapter 3: Obligations

Chapter 4: Loves

Chapter 5: Politics

Chapter 6: Spiritualities

Conclusion

Editorial Reviews

"Understanding Friendship is the most exciting and profound study on the topic that we have seen in three decades. . . . Chartier presents the most diligent and comprehensive discussion that I have ever read, and he takes us to new levels of analysis throughout. His engagement with politics and economics breaks new ground and makes friendship the most important heuristic key for solving the problems of our modern times. Bravo. A sure classic from the get-go." —Stephen G. Post, Stony Brook University

"Chartier's Understanding Friendship invites serious reflection about how we ought to live. He examines the nature, the importance, and the limits of friendship from ethical, political, and theological perspectives. Few readers are likely to agree with every claim he makes, but through engaging his discussion, any reader can come to appreciate more fully the ways in which friendship enriches human life." —Gilbert C. Meilaender, Valparaiso University

"At a time when true friendship has been more and more replaced by transactional relationships, Chartier offers ancient wisdom that speaks to our deepest longings as 'social animals.' His poignant reflections on vulnerability and contingency need to be heard by every thoughtful person." —Stephen J. Pope, Boston College

"Chartier invites the reader on a journey to explore the mystery, richness, and blessed possibilities of relationships we frequently take for granted but clearly cannot live well without. Drawing upon theology and philosophy as well as psychology, economics, and social and political theory, Chartier gives a compelling and inspiring account for why friendship matters and deserves greater scholarly attention. Best of all, in opening up the many dimensions of friendship, Chartier, like a good friend, makes Understanding Friendship a gift to a most grateful reader." —Paul Wadell, St. Norbert College

"In this wise, wide-ranging, and philosophically astute treatment of friendship, Gary Chartier offers what precious few theologians have dared in the modern period: an account of friendship that does not begin by trying to update Aristotle. We are offered instead a marvelously stimulating proposal: that friendship is 'vulnerable co-creation,' an opening of oneself to embrace life with beloved people one cannot control." —Brian Brock, University of Aberdeen

From the Publisher