'The Lord of the Rings and Philosophy' - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

mark12_30 · 10-23-2003, 01:44 PM

To me this "failure of conscience" (another writer calls it a "seared conscience") points to the major weakness in Plato's theory: he leaves out something that Tolkien would certainly include. We will answer for our actions. Tolkien certainly believed this, although he was also conscious of mercy and grace. The missing peice is some elegantly stated version of "... and besides, Eru said so."

Without that final say-so, Aiwendil is right; we are left with little more than the Dogpatch saw, "Good is better than evil because it's nicer." While that makes a certain abount of emotinonal sense for the individual with a healthy conscience, logically it's less than convincing.

In contrast, Gandalf refers to a higher power when he discusses Frodo's being "meant" to have the Ring; Tolkien agreed that this was so in his letters, stating that in LOTR, Eru is nowhere named but everywhere felt.

Conscience by itself works for a while, maybe, but in the end, knowing we will answer for our actions is a powerful motivator.

[ October 23, 2003: Message edited by: mark12_30 ]

10-23-2003, 01:44 PM	#11
mark12_30 Stormdancer of Doom Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Elvish singing is not a thing to miss, in June under the stars Posts: 4,349	To me this "failure of conscience" (another writer calls it a "seared conscience") points to the major weakness in Plato's theory: he leaves out something that Tolkien would certainly include. We will answer for our actions. Tolkien certainly believed this, although he was also conscious of mercy and grace. The missing peice is some elegantly stated version of "... and besides, Eru said so." Without that final say-so, Aiwendil is right; we are left with little more than the Dogpatch saw, "Good is better than evil because it's nicer." While that makes a certain abount of emotinonal sense for the individual with a healthy conscience, logically it's less than convincing. In contrast, Gandalf refers to a higher power when he discusses Frodo's being "meant" to have the Ring; Tolkien agreed that this was so in his letters, stating that in LOTR, Eru is nowhere named but everywhere felt. Conscience by itself works for a while, maybe, but in the end, knowing we will answer for our actions is a powerful motivator. [ October 23, 2003: Message edited by: mark12_30 ] __________________ ...down to the water to see the elves dance and sing upon the midsummer's eve.