Adem
Abell, Blake Owens, and I Axle Rothberg are doing a report today 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. This
book discusses various topics including self depiction, good and bad
friendships and a discussion informed by Aristotle insight on the
subject, gender equality, morality, sacrifice, the meaning of life,
and echoing philosophical themes from and sharing insights with
Jean-Paul Sarte, Immaunuel Kant, and William James,
Known
tools by great philosophers as virtues used to solve problems on a
day to day basis are intelligence, planning, courage, determination,
persistence, and so forth. While wizards can replace all of that with
a spell. Rowling's aim in her books is not to display the importance
of magic in her characters lives but to display the magical
importance of the classical virtues in any life. The authors point
out and give several examples that Harry Potter out of all the
characters feels a far more intense fear than any of the others in a
frightening situation. “His stomach lurched....his insides were
squirming... harry stopped dead” However he is always able to
overcome these situations to and to the extent of saving the day. The
question is how does Harry have this much courage. Courage is said to
be “doing what's right not doing what's easy” Aristotle teaches
us that courage is a midpoint between two extremes in our reaction to
danger. Cowardice and rashness. A lesson we can learn from Rowling,
Harry's recipe for courage which was to prepare for the challenge,
surround himself with support, engage in positive self-talk, focus on
what's at stake, and take appropriate action. Each of these task we
can all simply do.
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