In his ethics and politics, Aristotle focuses on happiness (eudaimonia) as the ultimate good of human life. Since by nature, for Aristotle, we are primarily social beings, the realization of happiness will largely depend on the relationships we have with other people. Friendship (philia) is one type of such relationship, to which Aristotle pays great attention. Friendship, however, for the ancient philosophers, is a much broader term than the one used today, by which we denote a private and intimate relationship that we choose ourselves. Philia, on the other hand, includes relationships that we do not choose, such as family, but also those that are not necessarily intimate, such as relationships with work colleagues or fellow citizens. The subject of this talk is the analysis of the so-called civic friendship. I will argue that Aristotle’s civic friendship is a model for understanding relations between citizens based on reciprocal care for fellow citizens, directed towards the development of each others capabilities.

Ana Gavran Miloš is an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Rijeka, Croatia. She is mainly interested in ancient philosophy, particularly Hellenistic epistemology and ethics, and philosophy of well-being and capability approach. Currently she is working on capabilitarian approach, with a special focus on the development of Aristotelian account of civic friendship within capabilitarian framework and a capabilitarian theory of well-being.

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