Contemplating Friendship in Aristotle's Ethics

Ann Ward is Associate Professor of Philosophy and Politics and International Studies at Campion College at the University of Regina, Canada. She is the author and editor of several books, including Herodotus and the Philosophy of Empire and Socrates and Dionysus: Philosophy and Art in Dialogue.

• Acknowledgments1. Contemplating Friendship in Aristotle’s Ethics2. Teleology, Inequality, and Autonomy3. Moral Virtue: Possibilities and Limits4. Justice: Giving to Each What Is Owed5. Intellectual Virtue, Akrasia, and Political Philosophy6. Citizens, Friends, and Philosophers7. Happiness and Maternal ContemplationNotesBibliographyIndex

"…Contemplating Friendship is a terrific work … Ward consistently provokes thought and prompts readers to turn to Aristotle's text time and again." — Perspectives on Political Science"In this short book on the Nicomachean Ethics, Ann Ward offers something for readers both new to and familiar with the text. For new readers, her book generally follows the path of the Ethics itself; there are clear, and often illuminating, treatments of many of the major themes, such as voluntary action, the possibility of akrasia, and the varieties of friendship … For readers more familiar with the text, Ward's book addresses a variety of puzzles therein, focusing on the debate between 'exclusive' interpretations of happiness that emphasize solely contemplation and 'inclusive' readings that call for moral, or ethical, virtue as well … Her book, generally well-written and largely free of arcane debates about secondary literature, is thus itself an act of friendship and contemplation." — Polis"Ward's book is not just about friendship: instead she ingeniously knits this topic into a discussion of wider Aristotelian themes such as happiness, moral and intellectual virtue, contemplation, metaphysics, wealth distribution, money, justice, and more … It is refreshing to see such attention to gender in studying friendship. Ward provides a close yet accessible reading of Aristotle, engaging many other scholars along the way." — Review of Politics