Cross-Cultural Understandings in the Language and Politics of Friendship (original) (raw)
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The Concept of Friendship: Comparative Analysis
Вісник науки та освіти
The concept of "FRIENDSHIP" is a linguistic and cultural feature of mental formation at many levels of culture. The model of this or that feature at different cultural levels helps to create a general picture of this or that fragment in the mind of a certain linguistic and cultural circle. It is explained and argued for by its linguistic form and other diverse cultural features. FRIENDSHIP is a unique phenomenon. The meaning of this concept for each person varies depending on the interpretations of the moral and spiritual values of the nation, in accordance with the general values of the nation. The concept "FRIENDSHIP" can have both a positive and a negative understanding at the same time. Stylistic coloring and features of the subtext may differ in different cultures. This may be due to certain cultural features or the general outlook of a particular nation. FRIENDSHIP is believed to be deeply rooted in different cultures, as this concept is interpreted as a voluntary relationship between people that is long-lasting and that is aimed at satisfying the needs and interests of others, as well as satisfying one's own desires.
ABSTRACT: What is friendship? Does the word “friendship” have the same meaning, the same concept in different cultures? And if not, what are the differences? There is no doubt that abstract notions in various cultures and traditions refer to different meanings. This paper tries to study the difference between the notions of “friendship” in two traditions. The approach is neither philosophical, nor sociological; rather a glance to literature is proposed. A comparison between two literary traditions: the Iranian one and the ancient classic literature, that is to say Greek and Roman traditions. In European tradition, it is insisted that man should have friends who are good and wise and he can trust them. Here, related to friendship, what are highlighted are the concepts of “Benevolence” and “Virtue”. But in Iranian tradition, besides encouraging having social relations and making friends, it is suggested to avoid getting close to the other. Here, friend is not defined as a human being to whom one tries to get close; friend is the “other”, the one that you should try to keep far enough from yourself. In Iranian tradition, this insisting on beholding the limits and boundaries with the “other”, that is “friend”, may be a result of the historical events.
Friendship : a philosophical reader
1993
Copyright © 1993 by Cornell University All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or parts thereof, must not be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher. For information, address Cornell University Press, Sage ...
Friendship as a Non-Relative Virtue
Journal of Ethics and Social Philosophy
This article takes its bearings from Martha Nussbaum’s “Non-Relative Virtues: An Aristotelian Approach.” There Nussbaum proposes an analytic framework that is intended to allow those who disagree about the virtues, in particular due to cultural differences, to engage in fruitful dialogue with one another. To explore what such an approach could look like in practice, this article considers the case study of friendship. It critiques Aristotle’s account of that virtue and provides an alternative based on contemporary egalitarian assumptions and aspirations. By placing these two accounts into conversation with one another, the analysis demonstrates the promise of cross-cultural and cross-historical dialogue about the virtues.
Friendship has frequently been juxtaposed to the relationships that constitute the 'structuring structures' of social life, be they the kin and descent relations of small-scale societies or the institutionalized forms of modernity. But interest in friendship and related concepts (mutuality, trust, intimacy, love) has increased dramatically in recent decades. The processes of globalization and postclassical trends in social theory are equally implicated in the increasing relevance of friendship to both ethnographic inquiry and theoretical concerns. Nevertheless, for anthropologists, friendship and kinship remain connected in ethnographically, theoretically, and conceptually unsettling ways.
Friendship as a Political Concept: A Groundwork for Analysis
Political Studies Review
What kind of a concept is friendship, and what is its connection to politics? Critics sometimes claim that friendship does not have a role to play in the study of politics. Such objections misconstrue the nature of the concept of friendship and its relation to politics. In response, this article proposes three approaches to understanding the concept of friendship: (1) as a ‘family resemblance’ concept, (2) as an instance of an ‘essentially contested’ concept, and (3) as a concept indicating a problématique. The article thus responds to the dismissal of friendship by undertaking the groundwork for understanding what kind of a concept friendship might be, and how it might serve different purposes. In doing so, it opens the way for understanding friendship’s relation to politics.
What Is Friendship? A Hermeneutical Quibble
Annals of the International Communication Association, 1989
Commentary on Rawlins 205 212 DISCOURSE AND RELATIONSHIPS philosophical subtext that I presumptuously think I uncovered in his more overt and also useful empirical discourse on friendship.
Rethinking Friendship, 2019
Philosophers have tended to construe friendship as an intimate relationship involving mutual love, and have focused their discussions on this ‘true’ form of friendship. However, everyone recognizes that we use the word ‘friend’ and its cognates to refer, non-ironically, to those with whom we share various relationships that are not terribly intimate or which do not involve mutual love. I argue that there exists no general reason to restrict our philosophical focus to ‘true’ friendships, and allege that we can gain important insights if we broaden our perspective to include lesser friends. I contend that friendships, in the broad sense (encompassing both ‘true’ and lesser forms), are necessarily relationships that are the product of significant collaborative norm manipulation. And I argue that understanding friendship in this way helps explain important features, including the difference between friendships and familiar relations, the non-fungibility of friends, and why friendships are often in flux.