Masło i próchno / łza : Blake i filozofia przyjaźni

Abstract

Butter and Rotten Wood / a Teardrop: Blake and the Philosophy of Friendship Abstract in English The essay sets out to explore the framework of the philosophy of friendship as a basic human relationship whose richness has not been exhaustively scrutinised yet. Taking as its starting point the memorable statement from “The Marriage of Heaven and Hell that” “opposition is true friendship,” the author seeks to demonstrate the fundamental and profound character of the relationship called friendship; the character which prevents it - despite its common understanding - from being defined as agreement, support or alliance. Friendship, by transcending those relationships, becomes a force which may disrupt and undermine their structures and thereby it comes to speak on behalf of desires and passions. This is why it may be called a “counter-relationship”: the notion itself alludes to a fundamental term of Blake's philosophy, i.e., “a contrary” as opposed to negation. A friend is thus a restless being; a being without a permanent address; a being who is nomadic and denies to be unequivocally defined. It is Blake, as well as Nietzsche and Emerson (who are also referred to in the essay), who makes us appreciate this extraordinary philosophical and ethical phenomenon.