This thesis examines how Aristotle's theory of friendship deals with differences between persons, given that his paradigm case is that of friendship between men who are excellent without qualification. I argue that because of his teleological understanding of human virtue, Aristotle believes that such men will share a comprehensive set of affective and rational apprehensions of the good; true friends will love and understand each other because of their identity in virtue. / I establish my interpretation against a rival view, which sees Aristotle as sensitive to the need for attentiveness to and valuation of differences between friends: while I show this latter view to be exegetically untenable, I suggest that it is informed by modern understandings of individual uniqueness which provide the basis for a critique of Aristotle. Finally, I explore the implications of a 'difference' critique of Aristotle for his understanding of the bonds which unite political communities.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.60053 |
| Date | January 1990 |
| Creators | Kahane, David J (David Joshua), 1962- |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Master of Arts (Department of Political Science.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 001235103, proquestno: AAIMM67773, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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