Friendship, philosophy, and gender in historical perspective

Since antiquity Western philosophers have reflected systematically on friendship, declaring it essential to human wellbeing. However, because conceptions of friendship have changed over time, the philosophic discourse on friendship must be viewed historically. This essay traces the transformation of conceptions of friendship from antiquity to the present and argues that the philosophic discourse on friendship has had an overt gender inflection. In the ancient and premodern worlds, friendship (especially, its highest form, virtue friendship) was reserved for men only; women were excluded from it on account of their perceived innate inferiority. In the modern period, discussions on friendship became more egalitarian and less tied to philosophy. Friendship could now be practiced not only among men of different social classes, but also among men and women, and increasingly among women. As modern women cultivated friendships with other women, they also recognized the political power of friendship as a lever for social change, giving rise to modern feminist movements in which female friendships loomed large. Friendship features prominently in contemporary feminist theory, reflecting the revival of ancient virtue ethics in moral philosophy, on the one hand, and the emergence of feminist ethics of care, on the other hand. Today, as in antiquity, friendship is a highly valued ingredient of human wellbeing.