Friendship

Melvyn Bragg wrote:

In Greek and Roman times, friendship was thought of as being an essential constituent of both a good society and a good life; a good society because it lay at the heart of participative civic democracy; a good life because it nurtured wisdom and happiness. It is this period which gives us the texts on friendship which, to this day, are arguably the most important of their kind. Amongst their authors is Aristotle, who engaged in one of the great philosophical discussions on the subject. For Aristotle, friendship could fall into three categories: it could be based on utility, pleasure or goodness. In its latter state, Aristotle described it as being 'a single soul dwelling in two bodies'.

So how did the Ancients establish the parameters of the true nature of friendship in the literature and philosophy that followed? How have different forms of friendship helped or hindered creativity and intellectual pursuit? What has been the apparent relationship between friendship and power? And what of the darker aspects of friendship - jealousy, envy and exploitation?

If you have a spare hour to listen to this particular intellectual m*s*u*b*t*o* it's here.

I think our friendship has utility element to it, well the info comes my way anyway :-) But also a lot of pleasure and a lot of goodness. My apologies for being remiss in my blogging, I am fighting with d(a)emons at the moment, and not just the WebSphere ones ! I'll be in Palisades and Poughkeepsie next week also.