The Dialectics of Friendship

Book excerpt: First published in 1989, The Dialectics of Friendship explores the ideals and paradoxes of friendship against the backdrop of other relationships. The book begins with an introduction to the subject of friendship in its historical and cultural setting. Following chapters explore the ideal of friendship in classical Greece, and the richness and ambiguities of friendship in the Christian tradition. The social dimensions of friendship are discussed, including among children, between men, between women, and between humans and animals, and the wider historical and political aspects of friendship are examined. The Dialectics of Friendship will appeal to those with an interest in the sociology, psychology, and history of friendship, as well as psychoanalysis, literary criticism, and classics.