The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum - View Single Post - Lord of the Rings and Philosophy @ Concordia University Wisconsin

Lalwendë · 02-03-2007, 02:51 AM

I know which book Durbelethwen refers to, it's The Lord of the Rings and Philosophy, which came out about two or three years ago. It's basically a collection of essays by assorted academics from assorted US colleges on random philosophical themes, evil, free-will, Nietzsche, fetishism etc. It's a real curate's egg, good in parts, bad in others. It's not one of the best books on Tolkien, few collections of essays are. The series also includes books on Buffy the Vampire Slayer & Philosophy and The Simpsons & Philosophy and promises one on Baseball & Philosophy.

The introduction does point out that Tolkien was in no way a philosopher, and that the book itself does not set out to 'find' inner or hidden meanings; it was written by simply asking some academics who also happened to be Tolkien fans to answer some of the questions brought up by LotR against a background of philosophy. So if this course is similar, which I suspect it is, then we're not going to get any definitive answers, just a whole lot of ideas.

02-03-2007, 02:51 AM	#11
Lalwendë A Mere Boggart Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: under the bed Posts: 4,737	I know which book Durbelethwen refers to, it's The Lord of the Rings and Philosophy, which came out about two or three years ago. It's basically a collection of essays by assorted academics from assorted US colleges on random philosophical themes, evil, free-will, Nietzsche, fetishism etc. It's a real curate's egg, good in parts, bad in others. It's not one of the best books on Tolkien, few collections of essays are. The series also includes books on Buffy the Vampire Slayer & Philosophy and The Simpsons & Philosophy and promises one on Baseball & Philosophy. The introduction does point out that Tolkien was in no way a philosopher, and that the book itself does not set out to 'find' inner or hidden meanings; it was written by simply asking some academics who also happened to be Tolkien fans to answer some of the questions brought up by LotR against a background of philosophy. So if this course is similar, which I suspect it is, then we're not going to get any definitive answers, just a whole lot of ideas. __________________ Gordon's alive!