Harry Potter and Philosophy: If Aristotle Ran Hogwarts

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Open Court Publishing, 2004 - Literary Criticism - 243 pages
Harry Potter has put a spell on millions of readers, and they all want to find out more about the deeper meaning of his adventures. In Harry Potter and Philosophy, 17 experts in the field of philosophy unlock some of Hogwarts' secret panels, uncovering surprising insights that are enlightening both for wizards and for the most discerning muggles. Individual chapters look at such topics as life revealed in the Mirror of Erised; the ethics of magic; Moaning Myrtle, Nearly Headless Nick, and the relation of the mind to the brain; and the character of Hermione as a case of "sublimated feminism." Also examined in this witty collection are how Aristotle would have run a school for wizards; whether the Potter stories undermine religion and morality; how to tell good people from evil ones through the characters in these novels; and what dementors and boggarts can teach readers about happiness, fear, and the soul.

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Contents

VOLUME
George A Reisch
The Courageous Harry Potter
The Morality and Psychology of SelfDeception
Hermione and the Women
Heaven Hell and Harry Potter
Magic Science and the Ethics of Technology
Why We Should Heed Dumbledores Warning
Magic Muggles and Moral Imagination
The Idea of a Different Reality
Space Time and Magic
What Wizards Can Teach
Fate and Freedom at Hogwarts
Hogwarts Emeritus Faculty
Current Hogwarts Faculty
VOLUME 1

S P E W as a Parable on Discrimination
Is Ambition a Virtue? Why Slytherin Belongs at Hogwarts
The Nature of Evil
Voldemort Boethius and the Destructive Effects of Evil
VOLUME 13
VOLUME 3
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