Friendship and Happiness

This philosophical and sociological look at friendship and happiness begins with a review of Aristotle’s three categories of friendship—friends of utility, friends of pleasure and friends of the good. Modern variations—casual friends, close friends, best friends—are described, along with the growing phenomena of virtual friendships and cyber socialization in the Internet age. Inspired in part by Bertrand Russell’s The Conquest of Happiness, the authors propose that conquering unhappiness is key to achieving the self-satisfaction Russell called zest and Aristotle called eudaimonia or thriving by our own efforts.

Tim Delaney is a professor and department chair of sociology at the State University of New York at Oswego. He sponsors an annual sportsmanship day symposium and recently co-created a sports studies program. He lives in Auburn, New York.

Tim Madigan is a professor and department chair of philosophy at St. John Fisher College. The former editorial director of the University of Rochester Press, he is on the editorial board of Philosophy Now magazine and lives in Rochester, New York.

by Tim Delaney and Tim Madigan

Format: softcover (6×9)
Pages: 296
Bibliographic Info: bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2017
pISBN: 978-1-4766-6896-3
eISBN: 978-1-4766-2990-2
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments v
Preface 1

Part I–Friendship  3
1. Aristotle on Friendship 4
2. Forming a Friendship 49
3. Cyber Socialization: The Transitional Step Toward Electronic Friendships 99
4. Electronic Friendships 134

Part II–Happiness  175
5. Conquering Unhappiness 176
6. Eudaimonia: A Philosophical Look at Happiness 198
7. The Pursuit and Attainment of Happiness: A Sociological Look at Happiness 220

Conclusion: The Connection Between Friendship and Happiness 257
Bibliography 267
Index 283

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