The Conception of Friendship in St. Augustine's Works

Abstract

After a brief and concise presentation of the concept of friendship in pagan and Christian antiquity, before St. Augustine, the paper shows the evolution of the conception of friendship in the works of St. Augustine. Reading the latter's books allows us to perceive an evolution in his thought on friendship, or even one can find two periods in the development of this thought. In the first period Augustine, quoting often Cicero, defined friendship in a purely classic way and laid stress human sympathy as the source of friendship. In the second period (beginning with Confessions) he gave a new conception of friendship, which is a gift of the Holy Spirit through grace. Yet he never gave up sentiment and personal engagement as a characteristic attribute of friendship.