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Blake Owens, and I Axle Rothberg are doing a report on Harry Potter and Philosophy, If  Aristotle Ran Hogwarts by David Bagget and Shawn E. Klein. The Harry Potter series seems to spark imagination for people all ages and also helps broaden peoples spectrum and perception on life leading to altercation in lifestyle such as questioning reality daily or making different style choices. Harry potter and the Sorcerers Stone was originally going to be called Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone but the thought was Americans would be put off by the reference to philosophy. Bagget and Klein quoted Plato “Philosophy begins in wonder” which they agreed that philosophical curiosity comes natural in a child. The Harry Potter series is perfect for this testimony in which it creates a world for a child to open their mind up to and escape and explore all sorts of possibilities and in relations to Plato wonder what's going to happen next. The authors state that Rowling's works are not filled with philosophical treatises, therefore their arguments will be based off its philosophical significance. And it is indeed philosophically significant because it is so engaging emotionally, imaginatively, and intellectually. The authors claim things such as Aristotle would act a lot like Dumbledore and there is a parallel between Harry's invisibility cloak and Plato's ring of Gyges.  We will discusses various topics including evil, death, ethics in technology and magic, and materialism.

    One very interesting idea presented in Harry Potter is the unforgivable curses. In my part of the presentation, I, Blake Owens, will aim to discuss what makes these particular curses “unforgivable”. through this we will be able to analyze what Rowling is suggesting about morality through these curses, and how the world of magic in Harry Potter relates to real world technology and the moral problems they create. I will examine different technologies such as human genome mapping and genetic modification and discuss how these very real scientifically concepts relate to the magic in the world of Harry Potter. Also being discussed will be the ideas of materialism and naturalism. These are beliefs that are held in some way, shape, or form, by almost everyone, whether they be real or fictional. However, it is important to question whether what we desire is actually what we need, and if these desires themselves are actually harmful to the growth of an individual.  




And I Axle Rothberg will aim to discuss if there is evil in this world and the source of it while debating free will over the choice of moral standing. How this relates to philosophy and Christianity comparing sacrafice. The ultimate goal of achieving bliss or happiness the right way. The sorrows of self deception relating to the dursley's particulary petunia and uncle vernon and psychology. As well as the controversy Harry Potter production stirred up.