Lord of the Rings and Philosophy @ Concordia University Wisconsin

[littlemanpoet]

Originally Posted by davem

He has an obligation to be fully & completely himself. Morgoth's 'sin' was not to deny Eru but to deny himself & his true nature - he is divided against himself - which is why, in the end, he cannot stand. He must, therefore 'redeem himself' & return to what he was (or become what he should have been.

This is psychology; its presumptions are numerous:
(1) being true to oneself is paramount.
(2) being true to one's creator is not important.
(3) there is enough power within the self to "achieve integration".

To posit this Jungian psychological perspective as that which Tolkien really was talking about, is erroneous at best.

Originally Posted by davem

There is no internal evidence for either universal redemption or eternal damnation in the writings.

Thank you for making this admission.

It would be nice if what we prefer is actually the way things are. It is valuable when philosophy itself is the pursuit of understanding reality for what it is, rather than that which may be preferred.