The Lord of the Rings and Philosophy : One Book to Rule Them All.
Title:
The Lord of the Rings and Philosophy : One Book to Rule Them All.
Author:
Bassham, Gregory.
ISBN:
9780812698060
Personal Author:
Physical Description:
1 online resource (189 pages)
Series:
Popular Culture and Philosophy
Contents:
Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Abbreviations -- Introduction: The Wisdom of Middle-earth -- PART I: THE RING -- 1. The Rings of Tolkien and Plato: Lessons in Power, Choice, and Morality -- 2. The Cracks of Doom: The Threat of Emerging Technologies and Tolkien's Rings of Power -- 3. "My Precious": Tolkien's Fetishized Ring -- PART II: THE QUEST FOR HAPPINESS -- 4. Tolkien's Six Keys to Happiness -- 5. The Quests of Sam and Gollum for the Happy Life -- 6. "Farewell to Lorien": The Bounded Joy of Existentialists and Elves -- PART III: GOOD AND EVIL IN MIDDLE-EARTH -- 7. Uberhobbits: Tolkien, Nietzsche, and the Will to Power -- 8. Tolkienn and the Nature of Evil -- 9. Virtue and Vice in The Lord of the Rings -- PART IV: TIME AND MORTALITY -- 10. Choosing to Die: The Gift of Mortality in MIddle-earth -- 11. Tolkien, Modernism, and the Importance of Tradition -- 12. Tolkien's Green Time: Environmental Themes in The Lord of the Rings -- PART V: ENDS AND ENDINGS -- 13. Providence and the Dramatic Unity of The Lord of the Rings -- 14. Talking Trees and Walking Moutains: Buddhist and Taoist Themes in The Lord of the Rings -- 15. Sam and Frodo's Excellent Adventure: Tolkien's Journey Motif -- 16. Happy Endings and Religious Hope: The Lord of the Rings as an Epic Fairy Tale -- The WIsdom of the Philosophers -- The Fellowship of the Book -- The Wizard's Index.
Abstract:
Can superhuman Power be used for good or does its exercise always addict the user and end badly? Will nature rise in revolt against technology? Would we find everlasting life a bore and a burden? These are among the disturbing questions raised by Tolkien's enthralling epic of adventure, The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien himself hoped that his stories would help his readers become better people, and he consciously drew upon some of the most troubling and challenging themes from mythology, religion, and philosophical thought. Professors Bassham and Bronson have recruited a Fellowship of scholars trained in philosophy and also steeped in the lore of Middle-earth, to delve into some of the fascinating issues raised by The Lord of the Rings. The writers' Quest was to steer clear of both "the webs of wizards" and "the haste of fools," to arrive at a truer understanding of the most magnificent tale of our time.
Local Note:
Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, 2017. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries.
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