This dissertation argues that it is possible to retrieve Aristotle’s conception of political friendship in a manner that is relevant for contemporary democracies. First, I offer an account of Aristotelian political friendship that can respond to various conceptual worries within both Aristotle scholarship and contemporary political philosophy regarding the coherence of an account of "friendship between strangers," that is, friendship among people who do not know each other personally. The first two chapters closely examine Aristotle's conception of political friendship as depicted in various passages in the Nicomachean Ethics and the Politics and develop a clear and robust account of Aristotelian political friendship. Chapter 1 argues for an interpretation of Aristotelian political friendship in terms of what I call the mutual-care model of friendship, as opposed to what I call the modern-narrow model which takes friendship to be a personal and intimate relation. This interpretation of friendship as a relation of mutual care thus creates the conceptual space to respond to the worries regarding the incoherence of political friendship as a concept. Chapter 2 defends the view that Aristotelian political friendship is a form of utility friendship that requires its participants to jointly commit to collectively advantageous political goals.
Second, I apply the account of Aristotelian political friendship that I introduced in the first two chapters to contemporary democracies. To this end, Chapter 3 investigates whether members of contemporary democracies have reasons to participate in a relationship of mutual care with their political fellows. I argue that the primitive value of political membership constitutes a reason for every member of a democratic polity to minimally care for their political fellows qua parts of their political community. Chapter 4 examines the relationship between affective polarization and political friendship. I maintain that affective polarization undermines political friendship by concealing the ground of friendship, i.e., the perception of a joint commitment to shared political goals. I argue that political friendship can be reestablished in affectively polarized societies through systematic efforts to raise political fellows' awareness of shared political goals. / 2026-10-04T00:00:00Z
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bu.edu/oai:open.bu.edu:2144/49387 |
| Date | 04 October 2024 |
| Creators | Hepçağlayan, Cansu |
| Contributors | Roochnik, David |
| Source Sets | Boston University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
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