Aquinas on Friendship

Description

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.

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Review

"Scwartz has made a welcome contribution to the growing literature on Aquinas's ethics, and his book will be a good resource for those interested in Aquinas's views on friendship."--Michael Rota, Aquinas on Friendship

"There is much to enjoy in the book.... Schwartz is to be commended for his extensive use of almost the entire corpus of Aquinas in his citations, including the scriptural commentaries, theological syntheses, and disputed questions. This is important as Aquinas's remarks on friendship are scattered throughout his writings."--Jennifer Hart Weed, Journal of the History of Philosophy

"Schwartz has made a welcome contribution to the growing literature on Aquinas's ethics, and his book will be a good resource for those interested in Aquinas's views on friendship."--Michael Rota, Aquinas on Friendship

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.