Aristotelian Realism

Political Friendship and the Problem of Stability

Bibliographic Data

ID6401620
AuthorsEric Cheng, Eric W Cheng (0000-0003-4490-272X, University of Toronto, corresponding author)
Year2019
Volume81
Issue4
Pages549-571
Publication date2019-01-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Review of Politics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0034-6705 • E-ISSN: 1748-6858
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0034670519000500
OpenAlexW2973055348
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited22

This paper argues that the pursuit of stability is the primary concern of Aristotle's understanding of political friendship. Specifically, I argue that Aristotle chooses to understand political friendship to be a “special sort” of utility/advantage friendship, applicable to multiple regime types of varying degrees of (in)equality, because he fears what might happen when citizens in any polity develop mutual animosity. Turning to the contemporary liberal democratic context, I note that Aristotle provides us with a strong positive argument for why we ought to take political friendship seriously. However, I stipulate that contemporary liberal democracies present obstacles to the realization of classical political friendship. I thereby conclude by suggesting that citizens can potentially be political friends when they understand politics and their social relations through the “metaphor” of political friendship

Argument (complex analysis · Context (archaeology · Democracy · Epistemology · Friendship · Law and economics · Metaphor · Political economy · Political philosophy · Political science · Politics · Polity · Realism · Social science · Sociology · Culture, Economy, and Development Studies · History · Law · Philosophy · Political Philosophy and Ethics · Religion and Society Interactions

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