(a) On Friendship (Introduction)
Friendship is perhaps simultaneously the most familiar and unfamiliar of phenomena: if we are lucky enough to have a number of persons we would count as friends, the chances are that, more often than not, we take those friendships for granted. This does not mean that we treat our friends badly as a matter of course; but it is to suggest that most of us probably do not marvel at the fact that we have formed friendships, that friendship is even possible; and we probably do not ask – very often or very deeply – what friendship consists in and of. Is it not strange that bonds seemingly strong can be severed as easily as they often are? Is it not equally remarkable that persons apparently unalike, disharmonious with one another, can form unshakeable friendships?
Literature often explores the nature of close human contact – friendship in its many forms (this would include romantic/erotic relationships). Very often, they will dramatize the turbulent courses friendships take. Philosophers, too, have wondered about the nature of friendship, and have, rather than dramatize it as novelists and poets may, attempted to dissect it, in order to see its inner workings.
You may notice in the entries (links below) a tendency to use musical metaphors in descriptions and analyses of friendship. This is no doubt a “tick” of mine, but it is also something one finds in the work of the philosophers mentioned; not uncommonly, friendship is thought through in terms of rhythm, harmony, temperament,* attunement. In Emerson, there is also a correlation between friendship and poetry.
What, then, if we were to reverse this way of thinking? As well as likening friendship to music, literature, and art, one might also liken these to friendship. It is not uncommon for characters in texts – nor, perhaps, for us in our so-called “real lives” – to find solace, comfort, and friendship in artworks (whether these be cinematic, literary, musical, or what have you).
*We tend to use the word temperament in connection with mood, temper, and character. However, in music temper and temperament refer to the tuning of an instrument.
Literature often explores the nature of close human contact – friendship in its many forms (this would include romantic/erotic relationships). Very often, they will dramatize the turbulent courses friendships take. Philosophers, too, have wondered about the nature of friendship, and have, rather than dramatize it as novelists and poets may, attempted to dissect it, in order to see its inner workings.
You may notice in the entries (links below) a tendency to use musical metaphors in descriptions and analyses of friendship. This is no doubt a “tick” of mine, but it is also something one finds in the work of the philosophers mentioned; not uncommonly, friendship is thought through in terms of rhythm, harmony, temperament,* attunement. In Emerson, there is also a correlation between friendship and poetry.
What, then, if we were to reverse this way of thinking? As well as likening friendship to music, literature, and art, one might also liken these to friendship. It is not uncommon for characters in texts – nor, perhaps, for us in our so-called “real lives” – to find solace, comfort, and friendship in artworks (whether these be cinematic, literary, musical, or what have you).
*We tend to use the word temperament in connection with mood, temper, and character. However, in music temper and temperament refer to the tuning of an instrument.