Are we alone in the world’s torments, or is there a tie between humans that is capable of withstanding all, even when political and social institutions, communities of ideas and interests seem to give in? Could brotherhood found our shared humanity at a time when it is threatened on the one hand by individual passions and on the other by religious or sectarian outbursts? Starting from the fact that ancient Hebrew, Greek and Roman texts all contain powerful scenes of fratricide, Catherine Chalier draws from our culture’s multiple sources to shed light on the nature, ambiguities and promises of the fraternal bond. She explores the political interpretations in order to query the different figures of love. For the philosopher, if testimony to brotherhood can still be heard, even out of synch, it is because it takes into account the uniqueness of the person, as manifested in the relation. Facing history on the brink, it stands as a fragile hope, on condition that it can itself resist the temptation towards fusion, which would drag it into a deadly misinterpretation.