Reasons for Political Friendship

The objective of this paper is to answer this question in the affirmative. To this end, I investigate whether members of modern polities havereasons to form friendly bonds with one another. The paper has four parts. The first establishes a fundamental desideratum that any consideration must satisfy to count as a reason for political fellows to partake in political friendship. The second evaluates and rejects a line of argument that presents bonds of mutualidentification andbelonging among political fellows as reasons for political friendship. The third evaluates and rejects a line of argument due to Paul Ludwig that presents theshared utility of political community as a reason for political fellows to engage in friendly practices with one another. Finally, I introduce my own novel argument —the “argument from membership”—for why political fellows have a reason to care for one another. I argue thatmembership in a functioning political community is indispensably valuable for any individual in virtue of playing a constitutive role in the individual ’s attainment of their final ends. I hold that, as constituent parts of the same political community, political fellows have a reason to value one another and, accordingly, to care for one another’s well-being.
Source: Ethical Theory and Moral Practice - Category: Medical Ethics Source Type: research