Our relationships with friends shape and define us, and many thinkers have seen friendship as the glue holding societies together. But what makes a friendship good or bad? What should we look for in a friend? And can friendships form our relationships with higher entities, like our society or even God? 

Written during a period of political turmoil in 44 BCE, Cicero’s work would go on to influence western views on friendship for centuries.  Among many topics, the author considers what makes two people become friends in the first place and how far one is morally obliged to go for a friend.  Written in a charming colloquial style, the dialogue is one of the masterpieces of Roman prose and remains highly accessible and relatable to readers today. Join us for a discussion of On Friendship and what it can teach us about our own friendships with Katharina Volk (Columbia).

This series is co-sponsored by Columbia’s Earl Hall Center for Religious Life.  Sessions will meet in the Dodge Room of Earl Hall.