Charts the stages of the history of friendship as a philosophical concept in the Western world. Focusing on Plato and Aristotle, the Stoics and Epicureans, and early Christian and Medieval sources, Ancient and Medieval Concepts of Friendship brings together assessments of different philosophical accounts of friendship. This volume sketches the evolution of the concept from ancient ideals of friendship applying strictly to relationships between men of high social position to Christian concepts that treat friendship as applicable to all but are concerned chiefly with the soul’s relation to God—and that ascribe a secondary status to human relationships. The book concludes with two essays examining how this complex heritage was received during the Enlightenment, looking in particular to Immanuel Kant and Friedrich Hölderlin.

Focusing on Plato and Aristotle, the Stoics and Epicureans, and early Christian and Medieval sources, Ancient and Medieval Concepts of Friendship brings together assessments of different philosophical accounts of friendship. This volume sketches the evolution of the concept from ancient ideals of friendship applying strictly to relationships between men of high social position to Christian concepts that treat friendship as applicable to all but are concerned chiefly with the soul's relation to God—and that ascribe a secondary status to human relationships. The book concludes with two essays examining how this complex heritage was received during the Enlightenment, looking in particular to Immanuel Kant and Friedrich Hölderlin.

Although it seems that erotic love generally was the prevailing topic in the medieval world and the Early Modern Age, parallel to this the Ciceronian ideal of friendship also dominated the public discourse, as this collection of essays demonstrates. Following an extensive introduction, the individual contributions explore the functions and the character of friendship from Late Antiquity (Augustine) to the 17th century. They show the spectrum of variety in which this topic appeared ‐ not only in literature, but also in politics and even in painting.

In this book, Lars Hermanson discusses how religious beliefs and norms steered attitudes to friendship and love, and how these ways of thinking affected social identity and political behaviour. With examples taken from eleventh- and twelfth-century northern Europe, the author investigates why friendship was praised both by brotherhoods of aristocratic warriors and by brethren within monastery walls. Social and political functions rested on personal connections rather than a strong central state in the High Middle Ages. This meant that friendship was an important pragmatic instrument for establishing social order and achieving success in the game of politics.

The ubiquity of friendship in human culture contributes to the fallacy that ideas about friendship have not changed and remained consistent throughout history. It is only when we begin to inquire into the nature and significance of the concept in specific contexts that we discover how complex it truly is. Covering the vast expanse of Jewish tradition, from ancient Israel to the twenty-first century, this collection of essays traces the history of the beliefs, rituals, and social practices surrounding friendship in Jewish life. Employing diverse methodological approaches, this volume explores the particulars of the many varied forms that friendship has taken in the different regions where Jews have lived, including the ancient Near East, the Greco-Roman world, Europe, and the United Sates. The four sections—friendship between men, friendship between women, challenges to friendship, and friendships that cross boundaries, especially between Jews and Christians, or men and women—represent and exemplify universal themes and questions about human interrelationships. This pathbreaking and timely study will inspire further research and provide the groundwork for future explorations of the topic. In addition to the editor, the contributors are Martha Ackelsberg, Michela Andreatta, Joseph Davis, Glenn Dynner, Eitan P. Fishbane, Susannah Heschel, Daniel Jütte, Eyal Levinson, Saul M. Olyan, George Savran, and Hava Tirosh-Samuelson.

This is a study of friendship in international politics. It offers the history of friendship, and shows the role of friendship in building various legal and political orders on both equal and unequal terms. Told through an examination of sources ranging from diplomatic letters and bilateral treaties to poems and philosophical treatises.

There has been an increasing interest in the meaning and importance of friendship in recent years, particularly in the West. However, the history of friendship, and the ways in which it has changed over time, have rarely been examined. Friendship: A History traces the development of friendship in Europe from the Hellenistic period to today. The book brings together a range of essays that examine the language of friendship and its significance in terms of ethics, social institutions, religious organizations and political alliances. The essays study the works of classical and contemporary authors to explore the role of friendship in Western philosophy. Ranging from renaissance friendships to Christian and secular friendships and from women’s writing to the role of class and sex in friendships, Friendship: A History will be invaluable to students and scholars of social history.

Interdisciplinary in scope, this collection examines the varied and complex ways in which early modern Europeans imagined, discussed and enacted friendship, a fundamentally elective relationship between individuals otherwise bound in prescribed familial, religious and political associations. The volume is carefully designed to reflect the complexity and multi-faceted nature of early modern friendship, and each chapter comprises a case study of specific contexts, narratives and/or lived friendships. Contributors include scholars of British, French, Italian and Spanish culture, offering literary, historical, religious, and political perspectives. Discourses and Representations of Friendship in Early Modern Europe, 1500-1700 lays the groundwork for a taxonomy of the transformations of friendship discourse in Western Europe and its overlap with emergent views of the psyche and the body, as well as of the relationship of the self to others, classes, social institutions and the state.

Augustine's theology of friendship The discovery of Augustine's letters in the mid-twentieth century provided a watershed moment for understanding the bishop of Hippo. The letters of Augustine offer a window into his life. They showcase a theologian on the run, working through difficult pastoral issues. They also show another side of Augustine: the theologian as friend. In A Bond between Souls: Friendship in the Letters of Augustine, Coleman M. Ford examines Augustine's understanding of friendship. For Augustine, friendship is the overflow of love and is essential for building Christlike virtue. Friendship differs by context and relationship but is fundamentally rooted in the reality that, in Christ, friendship with God has been restored. In this sense, friendship is fundamentally a spiritual exercise. With original research rooting Augustine's letter-writing, theology, and understanding of friendship in antiquity, A Bond between Souls helps readers to understand this doctor of the church in a deeper way.

The Evolution of Human Dignity in Catholic Morality Bernard Brady Gregory of Nyssa’s “Reverse Contagion” and Roberto Esposito’s “Immunity”: Which Way Forward in the Aftermath of the Pan-demic? Carlo Calleja An Augustinian Correction to a Faulty Option: The Politics of Salt and Light Anthony Crescio “The Perspective of the Acting Person” and Moral Action: Reading Veritatis Splendor no. 78 with Servais Pinckaers, OP Matthew Kuhnar Round Table Discussion: On the Work of Paul J. Wadell Thanks Be to God for Paul J. Wadell: Essays in Honor of a Friend and His Work Tobias Winright Stories of Friendship: The Generous Contributions of Paul Wadell Charles R. Pinches A Consideration of Teaching: Friendship, and Boundaries in Catholic Higher Education Bridget Burke Ravizza and Mara Brecht Spiritual Rescue Darin Davis Jesus Is Not Just My Homeboy: A Friendship Christology Justin Bronson Barringer Reciprocity within Community: Ancient and Contemporary Challenges to and Opportunities for Civic Friendship Anne-Marie Ellithorpe The Place of Friendship in Christian Ethics – A Response Written in Gratitude Paul J. Wadell BOOK REVIEWS Thomas C. Behr, Social Justice and Subsidiarity: Luigi Taparelli and the Origins of Modern Catholic Social Thought Michael Krom Charles C. Camosy, Resisting Throwaway Culture: How a Con-sistent Life Ethic Can Unite a Fractured People Alessandro Rovati Daniel P. Castillo, An Ecological Theology of Liberation: Salvation and Political Ecology Xavier M. Montecel Dennis M. Doyle, The Catholic Church in a Changing World: A Vat-ican II-Inspired Approach Martin Madar Joshua Dubler and Vincent W. Lloyd, Break Every Yoke: Religion, Justice, and the Abolition of Prisons Joshua R. Snyder Daniel K. Finn, ed. Moral Agency within Social Structures and Cul-ture Kevin Ahern Reinhard Huetter, Bound for Beatitude: A Thomistic Study in Escha-tology and Ethics William Mattison James Davison Hunter and Paul Nedelisky, Science and the Good: The Tragic Quest for the Foundations of Morality Frederiek Depoortere Maureen Junker-Kenny, Approaches to Theological Ethics: Sources, Traditions, Visions Mariele Courtois Nicholas Kahm, Aquinas on Emotion’s Participation in Reason Andrew Kim Jason King and Julie Hanlon Rubio, eds., Catholic Perspectives on Sex, Love, and Families Conor M. Kelly Rebecca Langlands, Exemplary Ethics in Ancient Rome Anthony Crescio Jerry L. Martin, ed., Theology Without Walls: The Transreligious Im-perative Daniele Clausnitzer Eli S. McCarthy, ed., A Just Peace Ethic Primer: Building Sustaina-ble Peace and Breaking Cycles of Violence Wesley Sutermeister Mary E. McGann, RSCJ, The Meal That Reconnects: Eucharistic Eating and the Global Food Crisis Lucas Briola Marcus Mescher, The Ethics of Encounter: Christian Neighbor Love as a Practice of Solidarity Vincent Miller Joseph Ogbonnaya and Lucas Briola, eds., Everything Is Intercon-nected: Towards a Globalization with a Human Face and an In-tegral Ecology Randall S. Rosenberg Matthew Petrusek and Jonathan Rothchild, eds., Value and Vulnera-bility: An Interfaith Dialogue on Human Dignity Peter Feldmeier D. C. Schindler, Freedom from Reality: The Diabolical Character of Modern Liberty Jerome C. Foss