What is togetherness and why is it good?

Lewis, James H. P. 2026. What is togetherness and why is it good? Philosophical Review Item availability restricted.

	PDF - Accepted Post-Print Version Restricted to Repository staff only Download (303kB)
	PDF - Accepted Post-Print Version Download (17kB)

Abstract

To be together with other people, truly together, is a social good. Perhaps it is deeply entwined with other social goods that have been subjected to sustained philosophical discussion such as friendship. Still, in its own right, the topic of the nature and apparent value of togetherness has been largely neglected. This paper advances three claims: i) that togetherness of a certain relevant sort consists in sharing a sense of the meaningfulness of things; ii) that this sort of togetherness is a lead candidate for being the internal goal of personal relationships as such; and iii) that togetherness so understood is valuable because senses of the meaningfulness of things are to be shared. The argument of the paper articulates a sense in which even solitary meaningful experiences have a social structure.

Item Type:	Article
Status:	In Press
Schools:	Schools > English, Communication and Philosophy
Publisher:	Duke University Press / Philosophy Documentation Center
ISSN:	0031-8108
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	17 September 2025
Date of Acceptance:	31 July 2025
Last Modified:	17 Sep 2025 15:00
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/181096

Actions (repository staff only)

Edit Item