In the wake of the significant impact which friendship as a lived phenomenon has had on philosophical and anthropological studies in the past three decades, we would like to invite papers which take up or continue such studies by addressing the meaning and the pertinence of friendship for human lives and communities.

• What role has friendship played for the building of trust and solidarity in communities of the past, and what ethical role does it play for people coming from different cultures and societies in today’s world?
• Does friendship also pose ethical challenges depending on the classes and groups which a person belongs to?
• What existential meaning has friendship been invested with, especially by people facing illness, loneliness, meaninglessness and death?
• What can a friend be? Can a friend be a dog? A god? A ghost? An artificial intelligence?

These questions are meant to encourage, not limit, the horizon within which we wish to discuss a diversity of philosophical and anthropological perspectives on friendship.

Organizers: Maria Louw, Associate Professor, School of Culture and Society - Department of Anthropology, Aarhus University and Jonas Holst, Assistant Professor, Institute Of Humanism And Society, Universidad San Jorge.

Program: