Friends may have succeeded where many philosophers have failed

Where there is no friendship there is no sense of community, and where there is no community there is no hope, writes Dr Vittorio Bufacchi

Matthew Perry, who starred Chandler Bing in the hit series Friends. Without taking anything away from the actors involved, the success of the show had a lot more to do with the subject matter of the sitcom than with the talents of the cast.

The recent death of Matthew Perry has resonated with millions of people, of different generations, across the entire world. 

The intergenerational and international grieving for the death of this actor is a curious phenomenon that cannot be explained merely in terms of his thespian talents or sense of humour.