Valuable Asymmetrical Friendships
Publication Type
Journal Article
Publication Date
9-2016
Abstract
Aristotle distinguishes friendships of pleasure or utility from more valuable ‘character friendships’ in which the friend cares for the other qua person for the other’s own sake. Aristotle and some neo-Aristotelians require such friends to be fairly strictly symmetrical in their separateness of identity from each other, in the degree to which they identify with each other, and in the degree to which they are virtuous. We argue that there is a neglected form of valuable friendship–neither of friendship nor utility–that allows significant asymmetries. We know of no sustained discussion of such ‘asymmetrical’ friendships in the literature.
Discipline
Philosophy
Research Areas
Humanities
Publication
Philosophy
Volume
92
Issue
1
ISSN
0031-8191
Identifier
10.1017/S0031819116000395
Publisher
Cambridge University Press (CUP): HSS Journals - No Cambridge Open
Citation
MOONEY, T. Brian, & WILLIAMS, John N..(2016). Valuable Asymmetrical Friendships. Philosophy, 92(1).
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/2040
Additional URL
https://doi.org/10.1017/S0031819116000395