Love and Friendship

Philosophers have taken love and friendship as seriously as justice or knowledge. Start with Plato's two great dialogues on love, then Aristotle on friendship, Montaigne's tribute to his friend, and a philosophical friendship carried on in letters.

1. 1
   SymposiumPlato · 1.5 hrs · ▶ ListenA dinner party of speeches on love, ending with Diotima's ladder of beauty.
2. 2
   PhaedrusPlato · 1.5 hrs · ▶ ListenLove as a divine madness, and the charioteer of the soul.
3. 3
   Book VIIIAristotle · from Nicomachean Ethics · 35 min · ▶ ListenThree kinds of friendship, and why the best is between good people.
4. 4
   Book IXAristotle · from Nicomachean Ethics · 35 min · ▶ ListenFriendship continued: self-love, and why the happy need friends.
5. 5
   Of FriendshipMichel de Montaigne · from Essays · 20 min · ▶ ListenBecause it was he, because it was I: Montaigne's friendship with La Boétie.
6. 6
   Correspondence with DescartesElisabeth of Bohemia · 4 hrs · ▶ ListenA friendship of minds in letters, between a princess and a philosopher.