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On Friendship

Contributors

By Alexander Nehamas

Formats and Prices

Price

$17.99

Price

$22.99 CAD

Format

Format:

  1. ebook $17.99 $22.99 CAD
  2. Hardcover $30.00 $38.00 CAD

This item is a preorder. Your payment method will be charged immediately, and the product is expected to ship on or around May 3, 2016. This date is subject to change due to shipping delays beyond our control.

An eminent philosopher reflects on the nature of friendship, past and present

Friends are a constant feature of our lives, yet friendship itself is difficult to define. Even Michel de Montaigne, author of the seminal essay “Of Friendship,” found it nearly impossible to account for the great friendship of his life. Why is something so commonplace and universal so hard to grasp? What is it about the nature of friendship that proves so elusive?

In On Friendship, the acclaimed philosopher Alexander Nehamas launches an original and far-ranging investigation of friendship. Exploring the long history of philosophical thinking on the subject, from Aristotle to Emerson and beyond, and drawing on examples from literature, art, drama, and his own life, Nehamas shows that for centuries, friendship was as much a public relationship as it was a private one-inseparable from politics and commerce, favors and perks. Now that it is more firmly in the private realm, Nehamas holds, close friendship is central to the good life.

Profound and affecting, On Friendship sheds light on why we love our friends-and how they determine who we are, and who we might become.

On Sale
May 3, 2016
Page Count
304 pages
Publisher
Basic Books
ISBN-13
9780465098613

Alexander Nehamas

About the Author

Alexander Nehamas is a professor of philosophy at Princeton University and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. The author of books on art, literature, and authenticity, among other subjects, he lives in Princeton, New Jersey.

Learn more about this author