This volume honors the Rev. Professor James McEvoy on the occasion of his sixtieth birthday. The theory of friendship, which has been one of McEvoy's major fields of research and publication, used to be at the heart of the philosophical project, and indissociable from it. For Socrates, philosophy was possible only as the pursuit of wisdom, virtue, and beauty in a community of friends engaged in an "erotic" quest for the good. The present volume wants to make a contribution to (...) the recovery of the friendship theme in its central importance to philosophy. It contains eighteen contributions by colleagues and pupils of Professor McEvoy from three different continents, who approach the topics of friendship, love, and charity from a variety of different angles. Several contributions are devoted to the theory of friendship in ancient and medieval thought, including its Christian appropriation. Others analyze friendship in modern and contemporary philosophy, while two contributors introduce cross-cultural perspectives. This volume will help to throw into higher relief the importance of the philosophy of friendship, as well as stimulating further discussion on this intriguing topic. (shrink)

This article argues that a close reading of friendship practices in the plays of Plautus, in light of the relevant social science and anthropological literature on friendship, can help us establish the parameters, discourse, and behaviors associated with Roman friendship. Application of a new analytical framework for studying such relationships in ancient literature (a "processual model of friendship interaction") to the plays of Plautus increases our understanding of Roman amicitia in that it marks the relationship as a precious and (...) all too rare social bond, fraught with paradox and ambivalence, and generative of tensions, anxieties, and asymmetries. (shrink)

The doctrine of friendship with God is one of the most classical in the Christian tradition. Building on the teachings of the Fathers of the Church and of the Middle Ages, the Theology of the Siglo de Oro explored its meaning in greater depth, stimulated also by the Decree on Justification of the Council of Trent, which places this theme in the context of its reflection on grace. Outstanding among the authors of that epoch was the Jesuit, F. Toledo , (...) Master of the Roman College; the well-articulated reflection, which he offers in his Commentary on St. John examines in depth the relationship between friendship with God and the doctrine of Grace, and includes many ideas which are still of great value and interest for contemporary theology. (shrink)

Scholars have disagreed on whether Cicero’s De Amicitia is a philosophically serious or even coherent work. Such criticisms, I believe, can be met by an examination of the successive accounts of friendship that the character of Gaius Laelius provides in the dialogue. I argue that the dialogue offers three such accounts of friendship which taken together provide a comprehensive and coherent account of friendship. Further, I defend Cicero’s account against criticisms that Aulus Gellius had raised in the 2nd century (...) CE (criticisms that have been repeated to the modern day). The problem of defining friendship is a thread that brings unity to the entire dialogue and shows Cicero philosophizing about both the origins of friendship and its dissolution, especially when the bonds of friendship are in tension with obligations to the political community. (shrink)

The purpose of this paper is to highlight the ontological character of amicitia in Aquinas. The originality of Aquinas’s theory is found in the ontological foundation expressed by Neoplatonic concepts (unio, unitas, communicatio). By integrating such Neoplatonic concepts with his analysis on the transcendentals (aliquid, unum), I made a new ontological foundation to the theory of amicitia.In order that a man is a one (unum), he must establish himself as something different (aliud quid) in the midst of the (...) relationship with others and then has to return to himself. So long as he stays self-contained without moving outward, he cannot constitute himself as an independent being which is different from other beings (aliquid). The ontological oneness (unitas) as an independent rational substance makes it possible for a man to form the mutual relationship of unity (unio) without losing himself in the midst of the deep relationship with someone else. (shrink)

The purpose of this paper is to highlight the ontological character of amicitia in Aquinas. The originality of Aquinas’s theory is found in the ontological foundation expressed by Neoplatonic concepts (unio, unitas, communicatio). By integrating such Neoplatonic concepts with his analysis on the transcendentals (aliquid, unum), I made a new ontological foundation to the theory of amicitia.In order that a man is a one (unum), he must establish himself as something different (aliud quid) in the midst of the (...) relationship with others and then has to return to himself. So long as he stays self-contained without moving outward, he cannot constitute himself as an independent being which is different from other beings (aliquid). The ontological oneness (unitas) as an independent rational substance makes it possible for a man to form the mutual relationship of unity (unio) without losing himself in the midst of the deep relationship with someone else. (shrink)

Cicero's essay On Friendship (Laelius de amicitia) is of interest as much for the light it sheds on Roman society as for its embodiment of ancient philosophical views on the subjects of friendship. The Dream of Scipio was excerpted in late antiquity from Cicero's De Republica, a dialogue in six books which now only survives in fragmentary form. In the excerpt, which probably formed the conclusion to the dialogue, Cicero describes his vision of the cosmos and the rewards of (...) immortality that the good statesman can expect after death. This work is particularly important for its influence on later literature in the Middle Ages and Renaissance.Both dialogues are examples of the best Ciceronian prose. They are presented in this volume in the context of Cicero's philosophical writing. Their place in ancient thought and their literary characteristics are discussed fully in the introduction, while individual points of interpretation are dealt with in the commentary. The text of both works is new and will also be published in a forthcoming volume in the Oxford Classical Texts series. There is a separate appendix of notes on textual points. Text with translation and commentary. (Aris and Phillips 1991). (shrink)

Ami/ennemi est le binôme dans lequel, au xxe siècle, on a essayé de fondre le principe politique. Mais l’amitié est aussi l’objet d’un tractatus spécifique de l’un des juristes les plus représentatifs du xive siècle, Giovanni da Legnano (1320 ?-1383). Selon Giovanni, c’est dans l’amicitia que réside la réalité profonde de tous les ordres de relations, depuis celui de l’univers jusqu’à l’ordre juridique et politique. À cette dernière acception de l’amicitia, Giovanni consacre sa réflexion, qui prend la direction (...) d’un véritable commentaire juridique du huitième livre de l’Éthique à Nicomaque d’Aristote. Si l’amicitia est ainsi la description du rapport qui lie le prince et les sujets, l’inimitié finit en revanche par décrire la tyrannie, c’est-à-dire la négation même de l’ordre juridique et politique. (shrink)

La perspectiva de la amistad en la antigüedad tardía constituye un considerable horizonte de reflexión y análisis. Este trabajo pretende delimitar las características singulares de la amistad en el mundo cristiano del s. IV d. C. y, más concretamente, ahondar en el legado epistolar de Paulino de Nola, considerado uno de los grandes referentes de la época patrística, y cuyos postulados reflejan una incidencia notoria de la amistad. Por eso, en un primer momento, ofreceré una visión general de su vida; (...) a continuación, examinaré el tema de la amicitia en su epistolario; finalmente, desentrañaré la noción de amistad epistolar con Agustín de Hipona. (shrink)

토마스 아퀴나스의 도덕규범 안에는 서로 상이하게 보이는 두 가지의 도덕규범 체계가 공존하고 있음을 알 수 있다. 하나는 아리스토텔레스적인 것이며, 또 다른 하나는 그리스 도교적인 것이다. 그런데 만일 아리스토텔레스의 교설을 하나의 완전한 체계로 본다면, 그의 체계를 초자연적인 그리스도교의 도덕 체계와 결합시키는 하나의 종합을 이루려고 할 경우에 반드시 어떤 긴장관계가 초래될 수밖에 없을 것이다. 이와 관련하여, 토마스 아퀴나스는 아리스토텔레스의 개념들을 그리스도교의 도덕적이고 종교적인 사고 안으로 통합시키기 위하여 아리스토텔레스의 개념의 많은 부분들을 변형시켰다는 것이 오늘날 일반적으로 받아들여지고 있다.BR 이것은 또한 토마스 아퀴나스가 그의 그리스도교의 (...) 애덕(caritas)에 대한 진정한 개념의 중심적인 특징, 즉 최상의 의미 안에서의 인간적인 사랑(maxime amicitia)으로서 신에 대한 사랑(dilectio Dei)과 이웃에 대한 사랑(dilectio proximi)를 해석하기 위하여 사용했던 아리스토텔레스의 친애(philia)의 교설에 있어서도 마찬가지이다. 여기에서, 연구자는 친애라는 아리스토텔레스의 개념은 원래 그리스도교의 애덕이 암시적으로 또는 명시적으로 아리스토텔레스의 친애를 배제하고 있다는 점에서, 그리스도교의 애덕과는 정반대라고 주장한다. 그리하여 연구자는 아리스토텔레스의 친애에 관한 토마스 아퀴나스의 수용이 아리스토텔레스의 교설을 중세 그리스도교 신학으로의 성공적인 통합으로 규정될 수 없다는 것, 또는 오히려 토마스 아퀴나스가, 의도적이든 의도적이지 않든지, 그의 통합적인 설명에 의해서 어쩔 수 없이 아리스토텔레스의 교설의 몇몇 본질적인 국면들을 제외시켰다는 것을 지적한다.BR 이와 관련해서, 첫째, 연구자는 아리스토텔레스의 ‘친애’교설의 기본적인 특징들에 관련해서 완전한 친애로서 ‘탁월성의 친애’와 ‘동등성의 친애’를 살펴본 후에, 토마스 아퀴나스의 접근의 아리스토텔레스의 탁월성과 동등성 개념으로부터의 두 가지의 주요한 이탈들을 지적한다. 둘째, 연구자는 아리스토텔레스의 완전한 친애의 전제조건으로서 나 자신에 대한 잘 정돈된 관계를 살펴본 후에, 토마스 아퀴나스의 이러한 접근의 아리스토텔레스의 전제조건으로부터의 이탈을 언급한다. 셋째, 연구자는 아리스토텔레스의 신과 인간의 완전한 친애의 불가능성에 관한 교설을 논의한 후에, 토마스 아퀴나스의 접근의 아리스토텔레스의 교설로부터의 이탈을 제시한다. 결론적으로, 연구자가 아리스토텔레스의 사고들을 넘어서지 않고 그것들을 일관성 있게 유지하는 한 사람을 가리켜서 아리스토텔레스주의자라고 부른다고 규정하는 한, 아리스토텔레스주의자로서 토마스 아퀴나스는 위에서 제시된 이유로 인하여 그 자신을 신의 친구라고 여길 수 없다고 주장한다. 다시 말하면, 연구자는 아리스토텔레스주의자로서 토마스 아퀴나스는 신의 친구가 될 수 없다고 단언하는 것이다. (shrink)

M. Tulli Ciceronis libri qui ad rem publicam et ad philosophiam spectant; vol. ix. Cato Maior de Senectute, Laelius de Amicitia; 50 Pf. vol. x. De Officiis; 80 Pf. ed. Th. Schiche, Leipzig, Freytag.M. Tulli Ciceronis Orationes Selectae; vol. i. Oratio pro Sex. Roscio Arnerino; 30 Pf. vol. ii. In Q. Caecilium Diuinatio, in C. Verrem Accusationis, Lib. iv. v.; ed. H. Nohl; 80 Pf. Leipzig, Freytag.M. Tulli Ciceronis Scripta quae remanserunt omnia. Recognovit C. F. W. Mueller. Partis ii. (...) vol. iii. Leipzig, Teubner, 1886. 2 Mk. 10. (shrink)