Want to discuss the value of friendship? (Chicago)

If you are interested in discussing philosophy and literature with like-minded people in a relaxed setting, join us this summer. This time we will turn to classical and contemporary works to talk about the value of friendship.

We consider friendship an essential element of a happy and complete human existence. However, we can lose friends through death or simply by being separated from them, thereby endangering our chance for happiness. By including friendship in our concept of a complete and happy life, we seem to be putting our happiness in jeopardy. Why do we insist on giving friendship such an important role in our conception of happiness? In this course we will explore Aristotelian and Kantian accounts of friendship. We will also turn to Chekhov, Munroe, and Emerson to consider friendship from a literary point of view.

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