Clues to recognise a true friendship. A reflection from the thought of Miguel de Unamuno

Abstract

This article presents a reflection on the Unamuno’s idea about friendship. Miguel de Unamuno, Spanish existential philosopher, frequently invites in his writings to reconsider the authenticity of the relations that we maintain with our neighbours, those whom we share life with. We will see that he understands friendship as the spiritual bond between two souls, as a shared love based on the affection of the spirit which allows us the moral dialogue with our friend. Obviously, it is easy to run into people with whom a superficial friendship can be stablished; conversely, it is very difficult to find a person fully faithful, whom we can completely devote ourselves to maintain an authentic and everlasting friendship. In order to learn to identify a true friendship, we aim at analyzing the clues that Unamuno’s thinking offers us, mainly on the basis of his spiritual writings.