Friendship and Happiness

<p> This philosophical and sociological look at friendship and happiness begins with a review of Aristotle's three categories of friendship--friends of utility friends of pleasure and friends of the good. Modern variations--casual friends close friends best friends--are described along with the growing phenomena of virtual friendships and cyber socialization in the Internet age. Inspired in part by Bertrand Russell's <I>The Conquest of Happiness</I> the authors propose that conquering <I>unhappiness</I> is key to achieving the self-satisfaction Russell called zest and Aristotle called <I>eudaimonia</I> or thriving by our own efforts.</p>