Why are we friends? Tradition and Renewal in the Augustinian Reflection on Friendship

Abstract

The abundant reflection on friendship in ancient Greek and Latin thought is well known. It is enough to recall, as a minimum sample, the Platonist Lýsis or the Aristotelian Ethics (Nicomachean and Eudemian), and even the Ciceronian Lelius, to see how and with what height there are outlined the essential characters that run through every friendship. However, what usually remains in the shadows, even when the ancient affirmations offer reasons of convenience, is why so-and-so is a friend of so-and-so, a point that seems to have been abandoned in view of a universal treatment of the subject. However, it is proposed as one of the strong points of Christian thought, in particular that proposed by Augustine of Hippo. To give an answer to why one person is a friend of another, in the view of the Hipponese, is the central aim of the present paper.