Enemies as the Truest Friends

Key Points

• This analysis investigates Mary Astell’s concept of friendship as it evolves from her early to later works.
• Examined the writings of Mary Astell, focusing on themes of friendship across her works.
• Engaged with current scholarly debates regarding friendship and moral philosophy.
• Proposed a new reading of Astell's notion of friendship emphasizing relational and functional tensions.
• Identified friendship as a dual concept encompassing charity and moral admonition.
• Demonstrated that Astell considers even enemies as crucial monitors for personal growth.
• Highlighted the unresolved tensions between the relational and functional aspects of friendship in Astell’s philosophy.

Abstract