Utility and Affection in Epicurean Friendship

In Ruth Rothaus Caston & Robert A. Kaster, Hope, Joy, and Affection in the Classical World. Emotions of the past. Oxford University Press USA (2016)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

Epicurean friendship begins in “utility”: the supplying of practical needs to others with an expectation of goodwill and assistance in return, with the trust that this exchange will continue throughout life by the habitual practice of the virtues. This reciprocal friendship is already a pleasure it creates feelings of security and regard from others. “Deeper friendship” and “affection,” involving shared pleasure in discourse and intimate companionship with an equal is consistently characterized by Epicurean writers as one of the greatest pleasures life has to offer. There is a third level, at which reciprocal friendship is no longer relevant or necessary: the friendships of the gods, who have no needs their friends could supply, and who are friends for pure pleasure and affection; it exists also among humans, with our happy memory of lost friends, where utility is past and affection is at last left to reign alone.

Other Versions

No versions found

Links

PhilArchive

    This entry is not archived by us. If you are the author and have permission from the publisher, we recommend that you archive it. Many publishers automatically grant permission to authors to archive pre-prints. By uploading a copy of your work, you will enable us to better index it, making it easier to find.

    Upload a copy of this work     Papers currently archived: 103,024

External links

Setup an account with your affiliations in order to access resources via your University's proxy server

Through your library

Analytics

Added to PP
2016-10-25

Downloads
18 (#1,149,936)

6 months
9 (#332,891)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Citations of this work

In search of an epicurean catharsis.Enrico Piergiacomi - 2019 - Philosophie Antique 19:117-150.

Add more citations

References found in this work

No references found.

Add more references