課程概述 Course description
Although its title comes from Jacques Derrida’s eponymous book, this course does not concern itself solely with that particular work (albeit will cover it as one of its major topics), but with “friendship” as a highly esteemed practice and its accompanying conceptualizations in the West. Starting from the classical model of heroic friendship as manifest in the legend of Gilgamesh as well as Greek epics and the earliest philosophical theorizations of philia by Plato and Aristotle, this course basically aims at giving an overall survey of “friendship” as it is endearingly theorized and practiced in all of its major variances and nuances in the Western world. Yet a special emphasis will be put on the present-day perspectives, which seek to reconsider the use of “friendship” both as a concept and a way of connecting against the background that “friendship” has lost its prominence and been sidelined by romantic love in modernity. Hence its combination with “politics,” in the hope that the practice and concept of “friendship” can be reexamined metacritically, paricularly with the issue of power in mind.

課程目標 Course objective
To familiarize students with the basic history of and canonical texts on “friendship” in the West, and to encourage metacritical thinking that may enable engaging theorizations

課程要求 Requirements
1. Punctual attendance and active/reponsive class participation
2. Oral presentation on reading materials assigned
3. Sound research plan for the term paper (due at mid-semester) and a term paper of good research caliber on a subject related to the course

參考書目（教科書）Textbook and References
Plato, Lysis
Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics (Books VIII and IX)
Cicero, De Amicitia
Bacon, “Of Friendship”
Montaigne, “De l’amitie”
Alan Bray, The Friend
Lillian Faderman, Surpassing the Love of Men: Romantic Friendship and Love between Women from the Renaissance to the Present
Jacques Derrida, Politics of Friendship

評量方式 Grading: 例：期中考50%、期末考50%（合計100%）
1. Attendance and