Pilar López-Cantero: Friendship endings

Tuesday January 19 2027 @11:30 (CET)
Sala B, Edificio de Humanidades, UNED & online

Abstract
Friendships can end because people drift apart, after an irreparable fight, because we find out something we do not like about someone, or simply because we no longer enjoy their company. Yet, unlike romantic relationships, where there is a social expectation of a break-up in the shape of an active exit, we have few social scripts and almost no normative guidance for ending friendships. In this paper, I ask whether an active exit is morally required in friendship endings. I argue that active exits are normally morally required when ending a friendship significantly disrupts the other person’s meaningful future or practical identity, while in other cases the ending party need only adhere to a general duty of non-maleficence.

Bio
Pilar López-Cantero is a Marie Skłodowska-Curie/YUFE Fellow at the University of Antwerp. She specialises in practical philosophy, ethics and political philosophy — particularly questions about personal relationships, self-narration, travel, and the city. Her research project ‘Affect in the city (AFFINITY): The emotional dimensions of urban justice’ (2025-2028) looks into affective themes in philosophy of the city such as community, home, and belonging. She is also interested in environmental ethics and feminist philosophy, which she has taught at undergraduate and graduate level.