Friendship in Plato's Lysis

Friendship in Plato's LysisFor Plato, a philosophers journey consists in constant questioning. The heart of philosophy resides in questions rather than in answers. Although some might consider a question without an answer a failure, Plato sees even the questions as progress towards truth. Along the way to defining friendship, the dialogue enlarges its scope and addresses also the topics of beauty, truth, knowledge, freedom and love. That friendship is an important topic is

For Plato, a philosopherÕs journey consists in constant questioning. The heart of philosophy resides in questions rather than in answers. Although some might consider a question without an answer a failure, Plato sees even the questions as progress towards truth. Along the way to defining friendship, the dialogue enlarges its scope and addresses also the topics of beauty, truth, knowledge, freedom and love. That friendship is an important topic is evidenced by the fact that it is encountered in every human life. Friendship involves a specific type of relation, different from a romantic relationship and different also from familial ties or simple acquaintance. Truly taking the time to reflect on the basic elements of a ÒgoodÓ friendship, one might find oneself at loss for words. Plato certainly found an inquiry into the topic of friendship to be a worthwhile task. The present discussion will attempt to gain insight into the nature of friendship through an analysis of the Lysis.