Philosophy 187-2

The course will focus on conceptions of friendship as well as related notions like family and love in Chinese and Western philosophy and literature. On the Chinese side we will read texts ascribed to Confucius and Zhuangzi, among others, as well as those by contemporary writers. On the Western side we will concern ourselves with writings by Plato and Aristotle, as well as by a number of contemporary authors. Our interest is both in the question how friendship is understood and practiced and in the question of the special moral considerations to which it gives rise.