Harry Potter and Philosophy: If Aristotle Ran Hogwarts

Front Cover
You don't need a diploma in arithmancy, the friendship of a hippogriff, or even a Hogwarts Library card to discover amazing and arcane secrets in the labyrinthine world of Harry Potter. In the book you now hold in your hands (or for more advanced students, the book you have levitated into a suitable position while you feed snacks to your owl), seventeen philosophical scholars unlock some of Hogwarts secret panels, displaying fresh insights enlightening both for sorcerers and for the more discerning Muggles. Among the occult lore here revealed, behold the best recipe for true courage, proof that self-deception does not yield happiness, how ethics can be applied to the branch of technology known as magic, why the Mirror of Erised isn't adequate for real life, whether prophecy rules out free choice, and what dementors and boggarts can teach us about joy, fear, and the soul. All the pages of this book are acid-free and have been individually bewitched with an anti-befuddlement incantation. Dont forget to keep your wand primed and read between the lines. Failure to observe these precautions may invite the malign influence of Vol sorry, He Who Must Not Be Named. ''Harry Potter and Philosophy is the most enjoyable HP spin-off Ive read and Ive read most of them. Some chapters are so full of good reflections, clear thinking, and reliable scholarship, I couldnt resist reading entire passages aloud. Our family plans to read these thought-provoking essays at the dinner table, sparking intelligent conversation with our teen- and college-aged children Harry Potter fans all.''

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Contents

The Courageous Harry Potter
3
Dursley Duplicity The Morality and Psychology
22
Voldemorts Agents Malfoys Cronies and Hagrids Chums
48
Feminism and Equal Opportunity Hermione and
65
Heaven Hell and Harry Potter
85
Magic Science and the Ethics of Technology 7 The Mirror of Erised Why We Should Heed Dumbledores
108
Warning
132
Kreachers Lament S P E W as a Parable
152
A Skewed Reflection The Nature of Evil 175 9 Is Ambition a Virtue? Why Slytherin Belongs at Hogwarts
192
Magic Muggles and Moral Imagination Ravenclaw ManyFlavored Topics in Metaphysics 217 11 Voldemort Boethius and the Destructive Effects of ...
233
Can Teach Us about Personal Identity
297
Hogwarts Emeritus Faculty
341

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