Harry Potter and Philosophy: If Aristotle Ran Hogwarts
Page 29
113
Roger Highfield, The Science of Harry Potter (New York: Penguin, 2002).
114
John Locke, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1689) (Oxford: Clarendon, 1975), Book II, Chapter 27, §9.
115
Locke, Essay, Book II, Chapter 27, §9.
116
Locke, Essay, Book II, Chapter 27, §23.
117
David Hume, A Treatise of Human Nature (1739) (Oxford: Clarendon, 1978), Book I, Part 4, Section vi.
118
Hume, Treatise, Book I, Part 4, Section vi.
119
Ibid.
120
G.W. Leibniz, Discourse on Metaphysics (1686), in Philosophical Papers and Letters, second edition (Dordrecht: Reidel, 1969), §9.
121
Derek Parfit, Reasons and Persons (Oxford: Clarendon, 1984), pp. 254-55.
122
Parfit, Reasons and Persons, p. 261.
123
For various views of the relationship between consciousness and brain function, see Richard Swinburne, Evolution of the Soul, revised edition (Oxford: Clarendon, 1997); William Hasker, The Emergent Self (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1999); David J. Chalmers, The Conscious Mind (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996); and Daniel C. Dennett, Consciousness Explained (Boston: Back Bay Books, 1991). Views represented here are substance dualism, emergent dualism, property dualism, and reductionism, respectively.
124
I am most grateful to Kevin Decker for supplying me with many helpful references to the Harry Potter books and to the editors of this volume, Bill Irwin, and Greg Bassham for their insightful comments and suggestions.
125
Quoted in Theodore Schick, Jr. and Lewis Vaughn, Doing Philosophy: An Introduction through Thought Experiments (Mountain View: Mayfield, 1999), p. 140.
126
Not to be confused with libertarians in the political sense—believers in small government and the right to do whatever lamebrained thing you want, so long as you don’t violate the liberties or property rights of others.
127
There are, of course, more sophisticated versions of soft determinism than the version I have critiqued. See, for example, Daniel Dennett, Elbow Room: The Varieties of Free Will Worth Wanting (Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press, 1984). For a powerful argument that none of these sophisticated versions have succeeded, or ever could, see Peter van Inwagen, Free Will (Oxford: Clarendon, 1983).
128
See Martin Luther, “Bondage of the Will,” in Martin Luther: Selections from His Writings (Garden City: Anchor Books, 1961), p. 181; John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, Volume 2, translated by Lewis Ford Battles (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1960), Book 2, Chapter 2. For a good contemporary defense of this view, see John Feinberg, “God Ordains All Things,” in Predestination and Free Will: Four Views on Divine Sovereignty and Human Freedom, edited by David Basinger and Randall Basinger (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1986), pp. 19-43.
129
For a similar formulation, see Alvin Plantinga, “On Ockham’s Way Out,” in John Martin Fischer, ed., God, Foreknowledge, and Freedom (Palo Alto: Stanford University Press, 1989), pp. 179-180.
130
Homework for American readers: After consulting at least three dictionaries of British slang, explain the difference between a “a load of old tosh” and a “a load of old bosh.”
131
See Josh McDowell, The New Evidence that Demands a Verdict (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1999), pp. 164-202. This argument, of course, only has force for those who take Scripture and such prophetic passages seriously.
132
For a balanced discussion of the relevant issues, see Thomas V. Morris, Our Idea of God: An Introduction to Philosophical Theology (Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1991), pp. 119-138.
133
Plantinga, “On Ockam’s Way Out,” p. 183; Scott A. Davison, “Divine Providence and Human Freedom,” in Michael J. Murray, ed., Reason for the Hope Within (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1999), p. 231.
134
Assuming that genuine knowing is involved and not merely intelligent guesswork.
135
Some claim that divine foreknowledge raises greater challenges than prophetic foreknowledge, owing to God’s being essentially all-knowing. See, for example, John Martin Fischer’s “Introduction: God and Freedom,” in Fischer, God, Foreknowledge, and Freedom. 12 Cf. ibid., p. 180.
136
God’s knowing that I will reread Sorcerer’s Stone tomorrow doesn’t mean I will reread it in this and all possible worlds. But of course that doesn’t entirely answer how God could know such a proposition’s truth value in advance—a point even more obvious when the future actions in question are more realistic possibilities than Irwin’s revealing ditty in Trafalgar Square tomorrow. Divine omniscience extending comprehensively to every future contingency remains a big mystery to solve.
137
Some kinds of foreknowledge may be possible only if causal determinism is true. Astrology, for example, seems to assume that human destiny and personality is causally influenced or determined by the position of the stars, planets, and Moon at the moment of one’s birth. But foreknowledge need not presuppose causal determinism. God, for example, in virtue of His essential omniscience, may be able to foreknow all human choices even if those choices are not determined. And if God can foreknow them, He can reveal them to others. Hence the possibility of prophetic foreknowledge.
138
Thanks to Dave Baggett for coaching me on proper gnome-tossing technique, and to Bill Irwin for teaching me the Icelandic National Anthem.
Volume 9 in the series, Popular Culture and Philosophy™
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Harry Potter and philosophy : if Aristotle ran Hogwarts / edited by David Baggett and Shawn E. Klein.
p. cm.—(Popular culture and philosophy ; v. 9)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
eISBN : 978-0-812-69697-4
1. Rowling, J. K.—Philosophy. 2. Children’s stories, English—History and criticism. 3. Fantasy fiction, English—History and criticism. 4. Rowling, J. K.—Characters—Harry Potter. 5. Potter, Harry (Fictitious character) 6. Philosophy in literature. I. Baggett, David. II. Klein, Shawn E. III. Series.
PR6068.O93Z69 2004
823’.914—dc22
2004015133
Table of Contents
Popular Culture and Philosophy Series Editor: George A. Reisch
Title Page
Dedication
A Few Start-of-Term Notices
Abbreviations
The Magic of Philosophy
Gryffindor - The Characters of Harry’s World
Chapter 1 - The Courageous Harry Potter
Magic and Virtue
The Virtues at Hogwarts
Feelings of Fear
Harry’s Recipe for Courage
Harry’s Big Step of Faith
Chapter 2 - Dursley Duplicity: The Morality and Psychology of Self-Deception
The Arguments for Self-Deception
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br /> The Self-Deceptions of the Dursleys
The Lessons of Dursley Deceit
A Fourth Lesson
Making Sense of Positive Illusions
An Honest Life
Chapter 3 - Voldemort’s Agents, Malfoy’s Cronies, and Hagrid’s Chums: …
Voldemort’s Agents
Malfoy’s Cronies: Crabbe and Goyle
Hagrid’s Chums: Harry, Ron, and Hermione
Aristotle’s Friends
Useful Friends and Pleasant Friends
Friendship in the Fullest Sense
“What’s Comin’ Will Come, an’ We’ll Meet It When It Does” (GF, p. 719)
Chapter 4 - Feminism and Equal Opportunity: Hermione and the Women of Hogwarts
In the Image of Her Creator
Not Just One of the Guys
Strength of Mind and Moral Virtue
Co-education at Hogwarts
Equal Opportunity Beyond Hogwarts
Hufflepuff - Morality in Rowling’s Universe
Chapter 5 - Heaven, Hell, and Harry Potter
Are We Truly Happy?
Is Death Really a Good Thing?
So Why Not Take the Money and Run?
Magical Moral Obligations
Some Damned Good Reasons
Chapter 6 - Magic, Science, and the Ethics of Technology
Magic, Science, and Harry Potter
Interlude: Fantasy and Moral Epistemology
Rowling’s Ethics of Magic
Back to Reality
Chapter 7 - The Mirror of Erised: Why We Should Heed Dumbledore’s Warning
The Mirror of Erised
Dumbledore’s Warning
Knowledge and Truth
Descartes’s Dreams
The Experience Machine
To Plug In …
… Or Not to Plug In
Doing Certain Things
Being a Certain Way
Back to the Mirror
Heeding Dumbledore’s Warning
Chapter 8 - Kreacher’s Lament: S.P.E.W. as a Parable on Discrimination, …
Discrimination and Prejudice
What Is Wrong with Prejudice?
Why S.P.E.W. Doesn’t Work
Indifference, Security, and Social Justice
Slytherin - Knockturn Alley and the Dark Arts
Chapter 9 - Is Ambition a Virtue? Why Slytherin Belongs at Hogwarts
Aristotle and the Sorting Hat
The Virtue of Slytherin House
Ambition as a Virtue
What We Can Learn from Slytherin House
Chapter 10 - A Skewed Reflection: The Nature of Evil
Evil Doesn’t Exist
Evil Protects Itself and Grows through Deception
Evil Is a Result of Free Choice
Seeing Clearly, Acting Bravely
Chapter 11 - Voldemort, Boethius, and the Destructive Effects of Evil
Boethius and the Destructive Effects of Evil
Voldemort and the Destructive Effects of Evil
Voldemort and Moral Education
Chapter 12 - Magic, Muggles, and Moral Imagination
The Devil Made Harry Do It
What’s Wrong with Harry?
Answering the Moral Charge
Is Hogwarts a Wiccan Academy?
Imagination and Morality
Imagination and Faith
Ravenclaw - Many-Flavored Topics in Metaphysics
Chapter 13 - Finding Platform 9 : The Idea of a Different Reality
The Oz Stories
The Ship of Theseus
The Narnia Chronicles
Hogwarts
Hogwarts and Narnia
Hogwarts and Oz
Hogwarts and Our World
Seeing but Not Noticing
Science and Alchemy
Chapter 14 - Space, Time, and Magic
Where and When: The Harry Potter Universe and Our Own World
Magical and Non-Magical Places
How: Travel by Magical Means
Time Travel: The Tensed versus the Tenseless View of Time
Time Travel in the Harry Potter Universe
What We’ve Learned About Harry Potter’s World
Chapter 15 - Why Voldemort Won’t Just Die Already: What Wizards Can Teach Us …
Disembodied Survival and the Nature of Persons
Teletransportation and Personal Identity
Chapter 16 - The Prophecy-Driven Life: Fate and Freedom at Hogwarts
The Scientific Challenge to Freedom
The Religious Challenge to Freedom
The Paranormal Challenge to Free Will
Reconciling Freedom and Foreknowledge
Hogwarts Emeritus Faculty
Current Hogwarts Faculty
A Wizard’s Index
Copyright Page