ABSTRACT
This chapter spells out Immanuel Kant’s account of friendship, with a particular focus on what Kant calls moral friendship. Kantian moral friendship, while resembling Aristotelian complete friendship in many ways, differs in that it emphasizes the importance and challenges of maintaining trust and mutual respect in relationships. Kant sees friendship as a central good in human life, at least among people who are themselves good. The intimacy of friendship fosters self-disclosure and facilitates moral self-understanding. It also presents practical and moral risks, including the possibility of betrayal and the loss of the other person’s respect. These risks, however, are worth taking, given the value of moral friendship. We should, Kant thinks, seek out friendships and endeavor to be good friends to each other. In crucial ways, Kantian moral friendships embody the idealized human relationships for which we ought to strive.
