A lecture series exploring the topic of friendship through four different philosophical traditions will begin on Tuesday, Feb. 20 on the UH West Oʻahu campus.
The ”On Friendship: East and West” lecture make up a series that is the first on the UH West Oʻahu campus on the topic of friendship. It will feature talks by philosophers from the Greek, Islamic, Contemporary, and Chinese philosophical traditions.
The series is sponsored by the Student Equity, Excellence and Diversity (SEED) grant from the University of Hawaiʻi system and the Philosophy Concentration at UH West Oʻahu. The lectures are free and open to faculty, staff, students, and the community.
The talks are:
- “From Plato to Aristotle: Were Men and Women Friends in Ancient Greece?”
Tuesday, Feb. 20, 9:30-10:50 a.m., in D145
Dr. Tamara Albertini, Professor of Philosophy, Director of the Undergraduate Certificate in Islamic Studies, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Abstract: Since friendship requires equal partners, could men and women be friends in a culture (such as the ancient Greek one) that privileges males and thus gives them leverage over women, thereby destroying the basis for equality? This lecture will look into the very different answers Plato and Aristotle provided to this question.
- “Friendship in Islam – An Ontological Analysis”
Tuesday, March 6, 2018, 9:30-10:50 a.m. in D145
Dr. Mehdi Aminrazavi, Professor of Philosophy and Religion, Co-Director of the Leidecker Center for Asian Studies, University of Mary Washington, Fredericksburg, Va.
Abstract: The word “friend” in Arabic (صد یق ) means truth as well as friend, and the ultimate Truth and Friend in Islam is Allah. In this discussion, we shall elaborate on the duel meanings of the concept of friendship in Islam and offer some analysis and interpretation of the ontological implications of this concept.
- “Friendship and Paternalism”
Tuesday, March 20, 2018, 9:30-10:50 a.m. in D145
Dr. George Tsai, Associate Professor of Philosophy, Graduate Chair, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.
Abstract: Might paternalistic interference that would otherwise be morally unjustified be justified, in virtue of one’s friendship to the interfered with person? I shall make the case that friendship can make a normative difference to paternalism, in virtue of some constitutive elements of friendship such as shared history, mutual knowledge and understanding, joint identification and projects, and reciprocated trust and vulnerability.
- “Friendship and Self-Cultivation in Classical Chinese Philosophy”
Wednesday, April 18, 2018, 2:00-3:20 p.m. in D150.
Dr. Franklin Perkins, Professor of Philosophy, Editor of the journal Philosophy East and West, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.
Abstract: Chinese philosophers tended to approach human beings not as isolated individuals but rather as embedded in relationships and roles. One relationship that has similar status in both Confucianism and Daoism is friendship, which in turn is linked to self-cultivation. This talk will give an overview of early Chinese views of friendship, emphasizing the connections between friendship and self-cultivation.