Harry Potter and Philosophy: If Aristotle Ran HogwartsYou 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.'' |
Contents
Voldemorts Agents Malfoys Cronies and Hagrids Chums | 48 |
Feminism and Equal Opportunity Hermione and | 65 |
Heaven Hell and Harry | 85 |
Magic Science and the Ethics of Technology | 108 |
The Mirror of Erised Why We Should Heed Dumbledores | 132 |
Kreachers Lament S P E W as a Parable | 152 |
Is Ambition a Virtue? Why Slytherin Belongs at Hogwarts | 175 |
A Skewed Reflection The Nature of Evil | 192 |
Voldemort Boethius and the Destructive Effects of Evil | 217 |
Magic Muggles and Moral Imagination | 233 |
Finding Platform 9 34 The Idea of a Different Reality | 257 |
Space Time and Magic | 275 |
Why Voldemort Wont Just Die Already What Wizards | 297 |
The ProphecyDriven Life Fate and Freedom | 318 |
Hogwarts Emeritus | 341 |
Other editions - View all
Harry Potter and Philosophy: If Aristotle Ran Hogwarts David Baggett,Shawn E. Klein Limited preview - 2004 |
Common terms and phrases
Abanes actions appearance argument Aristotle believe body Boethius boggart Buckbeak Chamber of Secrets character choice choose claim courage curse Dark Arts Death Eaters dementors desire Diagon Alley Dumbledore Dumbledore's Dursleys Edited emotions ethics evil evildoer example exist Experience Machine fact fear feel fight the basilisk Floo powder foreknowledge freedom friends friendship Goblet of Fire Gryffindor Hagrid happiness Harry and Ron Harry Potter Harry will fight Harry’s Hermione Hogwarts house-elves human illusion imagine J.K. Rowling Kreacher live Malfoy McGonagall means memory Ministry of Magic Mirror of Erised moral Muggles Narnia natural Neville one’s Pensieve personal identity Pettigrew Petunia Philosophy Phoenix Potter books Potter stories Prisoner of Azkaban Professor question Quidditch Quirrell reality Rowling Rowling's self-deception sense Sirius Slytherin Snape Sorcerer's Stone sort space-time splinched things tion true truth virtue Voldemort VOLUME Weasley witches wizarding world