Research Catalog

Title

Harry Potter and philosophy : if Aristotle ran Hogwarts / edited by David Baggett and Shawn E. Klein.

Publication

Chicago, Ill. : Open Court, c2004.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Holdings

Details

Additional Authors

• Baggett, David.
• Bassham, Gregory.
• Deavel, Catherine.
• Deavel, David.
• Eberl, Jason T.
• Gladstein, Mimi Reisel.
• Hsieh, Diana Mertz.
• Klein, Shawn.
• Lipscomb, Benjamin J. Bruxvoort.
• Matthews, Gareth B.
• Morris, Tom.
• Patterson, Steven W.
• Silberstein, Michael.
• Stewart, W. Christopher.
• Thorsrud, Harald.
• Walls, Jerry L.
• Weed, Jennifer Hart.

Description

x, 243 p.; 23 cm.

Summary

In Harry Potter and Philosophy, 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 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. --From publisher's description.

Series Statement

Popular culture and philosophy ; v. 9

Uniform Title

Popular culture and philosophy ; v. 9.

Subject

• Children's stories, English > History and criticism
• Fantasy fiction, English > History and criticism
• Philosophy in literature
• Potter, Harry (Fictitious character)
• Rowling, J. K. > Harry Potter
• Rowling, J. K. > Philosophy

Genre/Form

Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references and index.

Processing Action (note)

• committed to retain

Contents

Part I. Gryffindor : the characters of Harry's world -- The courageous Harry Potter / Tom Morris -- Dursley duplicity : the morality and psychology of self-deception / Diana Mertz Hsieh -- Voldemort's agents, Malfoy's cronies, and Hagrid's chums : friendship in Harry Potter / Harald Thorsrud -- Feminism and equal opportunity : Hermione and the women of Hogwarts / Mimi Gladstein -- Part II. Hufflepuff : morality in Rowling's universe -- Heaven, hell, and Harry Potter / Jerry Walls -- Magic, science, and the ethics of technology / Benjamin J. Bruxvoort Lipscomb and W. Christopher Stewart -- The mirror of Erised : why we should heed Dumbledore's warning / Shawn Klein -- Kreacher's lament : S.P.E.W. as a parable on discrimination, indifference, and social justice / Steven W. Patterson -- Part III. Slytherin : Knockturn Alley, and the dark arts -- Is ambition a virtue? : why Slytherin belongs at Hogwarts / Steven W. Patterson -- A skewed reflection : the nature of evil / David and Catherine Deavel -- Voldemort, Boethius, and the destructive effects of evil / Jennifer Hart Weed -- Magic, muggles, and moral imagination / David Baggett -- Part IV. Ravenclaw : many-flavored topics in metaphysics -- Finding platform 9 3/4 : the idea of a different reality / Gareth B. Matthews -- Space, time, and magic / Michael Silberstein -- Why Voldemort won't just die already : what wizards can teach us about personal identity / Jason Eberl -- The prophecy-driven life : foreknowledge and freedom at Hogwarts / Gregory Bassham.

ISBN

0812694554 (trade pbk. : alk. paper)

LCCN

^^2004015133

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library