Friendship and Politics

Essays in Political Thought

Edited by John von Heyking and Richard Avramenko

Throughout the history of Western political philosophy, the idea of friendship has occupied a central place in the conversation. It is only in the context of the modern era that friendship has lost its prominence. By retrieving the concept of friendship for philosophical investigation, these essays invite readers to consider how our political principles become manifest in our private lives. They provide a timely corrective to contemporary confusion plaguing this central experience of our public and our private life.

This volume assembles essays by well-known scholars who address contemporary concerns about community in the context of philosophical ideas about friendship. Part One includes essays on ancient philosophers including Plato, Aristotle, and Cicero. Part Two considers treatments of friendship by Christian thinkers such as Augustine, Aquinas, Luther, and Calvin, and Part Three continues with Thomas Hobbes, Montaigne, the American founders, and de Tocqueville. The volume concludes with two essays that address the postmodern emphasis on fragmentation and the dynamics of power within the modern state.

Contributors: John von Heyking, Richard Avramenko, James M. Rhodes, Stephen M. Salkever, Walter Nicgorski, Jeanne Heffernan Schindler, Thomas Heilke, Timothy Fuller, Travis D. Smith, George Carey, Joshua Mitchell, and Jürgen Gebhardt.

John von Heyking is associate professor of political science at the University of Lethbridge. He is the author and co-editor of a number of books, including Augustine and Politics as Longing in the World.

Richard Avramenko is assistant professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin.

“ Friendship and Politics is not only well conceived and well executed, but fills a unique position within the literature. Many studies cover the topics of individual chapters, but none aims at a treatment that parallels the course of political theory up to the present. The volume ends on a particularly strong treatment of the contemporary setting.” —David Walsh, Catholic University of America

Reviews

“The twelve essays in this volume address the relationship between friendship and political life. . . . Joshua Mitchell on Tocqueville, Richard Avramenko on Nietzsche, and Jurgen Gebhardt on the importance of trust in any legitimate public order round out this interesting collection on a topic lately ‘relegated to the backbenches of political philosophy.’ ” — Choice