Aquinas on friendship / Daniel Schwartz.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Schwartz, Daniel, 1972-

Series:

Oxford philosophical monographs

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Thomas, Aquinas, Saint, 1225?-1274.

Thomas.

Friendship--Philosophy.

Friendship.

Physical Description:

xviii, 189 pages ; 23 cm.

Place of Publication:

Oxford : Clarendon ; Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2007.

Summary:

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.

Contents:

1 Larger Themes 1

1.1 Friendship and Amicitia 1

1.2 The Importance of Friends 3

1.3 Acts of Friendship 6

2 What Concord Requires 22

2.1 'Concord is a Union of Wills, Not of Opinions' 22

2.2 Disagreement and Friendship 31

2.3 Why Conflicting Beliefs Alone Do Not Create Discord: A Look at Heresy 34

3 Friendship and Conformity of Wills 42

3.2 Conformity of Wills and the Friend's Reasons 46

3.3 Conformity of Wills and Disparity of Circumstances 57

3.4 Ways of Willing the Same 61

3.5 Political Implications of Aquinas's Position on the Conformity of Wills of Friendship 66

4 What Prevents Us from Joining Other People's Projects?: Pride as an Impediment to Conformity of Wills 69

4.1 Nilling What Another Wills: Schism, Sedition, and Discord 70

4.2 Vainglory and Unwillingness to Agree with Others 72

4.3 Pride and Unwillingness to Agree with Others 74

4.4 Conformity of Wills Revisited 87

4.5 The Law as a Cure for Pride 88

4.6 Human Institutions and Pride 90

5 Friendship and Uncertainty: Presumptions and Hope 94

5.1 Present Friendship and the Presumption of Authenticity 95

5.2 Hope and Future Friendship 107

6 Friendship and Recourse to Justice 123

6.1 Justice between Friends 124

6.2 Friendship as a Condition of Just Exchange 133

7 Justice, Satisfaction, and Restoration of Friendship 142

7.1 Satisfaction and Friendship 143

7.2 Friendship and Quantitative Satisfaction 151

Appendix The Duality of the Rational Volition in Christ's Human Nature and Friendship with God 165.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [167]-174) and indexes.

ISBN:

0199205396

9780199205394

OCLC:

74522196