“Love and Friendship: The Platonic Sources of Postmodern Politics”

“Love and Friendship: The Platonic Sources of Postmodern Politics”

Catherine Borck, Assistant Professor of Politics and Government, University of Hartford

The relationship that Professor Borck was describing between friend and enemy seemed reminiscent of the relationship that we explored between love and desire last semester. The enemy is the antithesis of a friend just as desire is the antithesis of love. The flip side of this duality, as Schmitt philosophized, is that you cannot know your friends without knowing your enemies, much like you cannot evaluate love independently of desire.

I am not in the least way knowledgeable about philosophy, so I will tread carefully in this arena. It seems like Schmitt heavily relied on the friend enemy antithesis to keep the political structure stable – in the absence of this dichotomy, he believes there would be anarchy. Similarly, we rely on desire as a tool for motivation to move forward on both a personal and societal level. If every desire were fulfilled, what would be the purpose of advancement? Although his philosophy about friendship is rigid and unaccommodating, I can see merit in his logic.

My personal school of thought lies most closely with Plato’s teachings. Although Derrida’s philosophy is attractive to the idealistic portion of my mind, there are far too many uncontrollable human elements to predict the feasibility of an operational society without enmity. I think in some ways, Derrida overestimates the kindly nature of humans. Schmitt, on the other hand, seems to underestimate the natural, overwhelming draw to others. The friend enemy antithesis does not leave very much space for the emotional being to flourish. This is another point that the two converge on – the biggest barrier to their philosophies naturally taking hold is the unpredictability of the human element. Plato’s point of view, to me, is more logical and intuitive than Derrida or Schmitt.

Last semester, we spoke of the self being defined by what it is lacking, rather than what it is possessing. This sense of lacking is also a contributing factor in friendship. If there is a deficiency, the desire to erase it will cause individuals to seek out friends who have the thing that they are deficient in. In this way, we let human nature take the wheel in choosing friends and relational partners.