The Lord of the Rings and Philosophy: One Book to Rule Them All (Popular Culture and Philosophy 5)

The Lord of the Rings is intended to be applicable to the real world of relationships, religion, pleasure, pain, and politics. Tolkien himself said that his grand tale of wizards, orcs, hobbits, and elves was aimed at truth and good morals in the actual world. Analysis of the popular appeal of The Lord of the Rings (on websites and elsewhere) shows that Tolkien fans are hungry for discussion of the urgent moral and cosmological issues arising out of this fantastic epic story. Can political power be wielded for good, or must it always corrupt? Does technology destroy the truly human? Is it morally wrong to give up hope? Can we find meaning in chance events? In The Lord of the Rings and Philosophy, seventeen young philosophy professors, all of them ardent Tolkien fans and most of them contributors to the four earlier volumes in the Popular Culture and Philosophy series, address some of these important issues and show how clues to their solutions may be found in the imaginary world of Middle-earth. The book is divided into five sections, concerned with Power and the Ring, the Quest for Happiness, Good and Evil in Middle-earth, Time and Mortality, and the Relevance 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 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. Can power be wielded for good, or must it always corrupt? Does technology destroy the truly human? Is beer essential to the good life? The Lord of the Rings raises many such searching questions, and this book attempts some answers. Divided into five sections concerned with power and the Ring, the quest for happiness, good and evil in Middle-earth, time and mortality, and the relevance of fairy tales, The Lord of the Rings and Philosophy mines Tolkien's fantasy worlds for wisdom in areas including the menace of technology, addiction and fetishism, the vitality of tradition, the environmental implications of Tolkien's thought, Middle-earth's relationship to Buddhism and Taoism, and more 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