Friendship and the Political - Imprint Academic

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This book reappraises the idea of "friendship" in contemporary political thought. Friendship was a central notion for the Ancients, being regarded as a political ideal to rank alongside justice. The author explores the possibilities for theorising friendship in modern times through an examination of three seminal thinkers: Kierkegaard, Nietzsche and Schmitt. He shows that friendship is a vital descriptive, analytic and normative idea in contemporary political thought, identifying and valuing the horizontal moral and affective affinities that bind political communities. Reappraised in this way, friendship is shown to play an important role in redeveloping the contours of current debates around liberalism, communitarianism, community, social cohesion, civil society, justice, power, and ultimately our understanding of the political itself.
Nov 26, 2013

Source: Capital and Class

Credit: Felix Berenskoetter, SOAS, University of London

"Graham Smith has written a valuable book exploring the place of friendship in the work of thinkers ranging from Plato to Carl Schmitt... [T]he interesting question is what we can take from the book's presentation of their engagement with friendship. The short answer is: a lot."

Source: Political Studies Review

Credit: Preston King

"[Smith] offers political philosophy, not ideology, in that his friendship paradigm presents as a historical foundation, not a set of sacred texts. He advances from this baseline to engage with three significant thinkers of the modern period: his choice of Kierkegaard, Nietzsche and Schmitt is inspired."
Paperback
- Publication Date: 31 December 2011
- ISBN-13: 9781845402464
- Extent: Main content page count : 250
- Code: 1845402464
- Dimensions: 15.6 x 23.4 x 1.5 cm
- Weight: 350 grams
- List Price: £17.95
- ONIX Version 2.1, Version 3

Details

Title: Friendship and the Political
Subtitle: Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Schmitt
Author: Graham M. Smith
Language: English
Publisher: Imprint Academic
Imprint: Imprint Academic

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