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Lorraine Smith Pangle, Aristotle and the Philosophy of Friendship. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003. Pp. vii+225. ISBN 0-521-81745-5. $65.00.
A ristotle and the Philosophy of Friendship is a welcome contribution to a topic of increasing interest among philosophers and Classicists, and of growing importance in the modern world. Pangle (hereafter: P.) analyzes in detail Aristotle's highly influential discussion of friendship in Books 8 and 9 of the Nicomachean Ethics, focusing on "three sets of issues": "the naturalness of friendship, the possibility of selflessness in friendship, and the relationship of friendship to justice" (p. 5). Some of her most provocative and original insights, however, come from a comparison of Aristotle's views with those of other philosophers, in the ancient world and in other historical periods, and from her own views on friendship. P. succeeds admirably in using history of philosophy to stimulate thought about issues of contemporary interest.
The book consists of a substantial introduction and ten chapters, and includes a bibliography and index of names. Chapter 1 discusses Plato's Lysis, the dialogue on friendship with which, according to P., Aristotle engages and to which he responds in his books on friendship (p. 37). Chapter 2 is devoted to the three kinds of friendship in NE 8 and 9: those based on utility, pleasure and virtue, respectively. It includes a comparison of Aristotle and Francis Bacon. In Chapter 3, P. contrasts the views of Aristotle with those of Montaigne. After discussing Aristotle's account of family and political friendship (Chapter 4), P. turns to Cicero's treatment of political friendship in the Laelius, and compares his ideas with those of Aristotle and Montaigne. The rest of the book is concerned with central problems in Aristotle's account of friendship: "Quarrels, Conflicting Claims, and Dissolutions" (Chapter 6), the concept of the friend as another self (Chapter 7), "Goodwill, Concord, and the Love of Benefactors" (Chapter 8), and the problems of self-love and self-sacrifice (Chapter 9). It concludes with an overview of the role of friendship in the happy life (Chapter 10).
A central claim of Aristotle and the Philosophy of Friendship is that NE 8 and 9 are not only concerned with friendship for its own sake, but are also an essential part of a larger project. P. claims that...