I found this essay to be an expanding and provoking journey, meandering through many contradictory lenses through which to practice friendship.
It explores at great length the tension between self sufficiency and intimacy. It asks the question implicitly: what interconnections build a full life?
In my view, friendship is drastically neglected in religious and philosophical writings, which usually focus on other types of relationships.
The points about other people “activating our virtue” are particularly interesting. It brings to mind “there is no self without the other.”
Key ingredients of friendships: trust, self disclosure, attachment. These ingredients are what make individual relationships irreplaceable.
I’ve been pondering this content and these paradigms for a couple of months now, and they have helped to firm up the framework of my beliefs and practices around solitude, reciprocity, sacrifice, and time spent.
I look forward to hearing what you think.
https://www.academia.edu/54211894/Completeness_Self_Sufficiency_and_Intimacy_in_Senecas_Account_of_F