David Baggett - Harry Potter and Philosophy: If Aristotle Ran Hogwarts (Popular Culture and Philosophy)

Table of Contents

Popular Culture and Philosophy Series Editor: George A. Reisch

VOLUME 1

Seinfeld and Philosophy: A Book about Everything and Nothing (2000)

VOLUME 2

The Simpsons and Philosophy: The Doh! of Homer (2001)

VOLUME 3

The Matrix and Philosophy: Welcome to the Desert of the Real (2002)

VOLUME 4

Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Philosophy: Fear and Trembling in Sunnydale (2003)

VOLUME 5

The Lord of the Rings and Philosophy: One Book to Rule Them All (2003)

VOLUME 6

Baseball and Philosophy: Thinking Outside the Batters Box (2004)

VOLUME 9

Harry Potter and Philosophy: If Aristotle Ran Hogwarts (2004)

VOLUME 12

Star Wars and Philosophy: More Powerful than You Can Possibly Imagine (2005)

VOLUME 13

Superheroes and Philosophy: Truth, Justice, and the Socratic Way (2005)

VOLUME 17

Bob Dylan and Philosophy: Its Alright Ma (Im Only Thinking) (2006)

VOLUME 18

Harley-Davidson and Philosophy: Full-Throttle Aristotle (2006)

VOLUME 19

Monty Python and Philosophy: Nudge Nudge, Think Think! (2006)

VOLUME 23

James Bond and Philosophy: Questions Are Forever (2006)

VOLUME 24

Bullshit and Philosophy: Guaranteed to Get Perfect Results Every Time (2006)

VOLUME 25

The Beatles and Philosophy: Nothing You Can Think that Cant Be Thunk (2006)

VOLUME 26

South Park and Philosophy: Bigger, Longer, and More Penetrating (2007) Edited by Richard Hanley

VOLUME 28

The Grateful Dead and Philosophy: Getting High Minded about Love and Haight (2007) Edited by Steven Gimbel

VOLUME 29

Quentin Tarantino and Philosophy: How to Philosophize with a Pair of Pliers and a Blowtorch (2007) Edited by Richard Greene and K. Silem Mohammad

VOLUME 30

Pink Floyd and Philosophy: Careful with that Axiom, Eugene! (2007) Edited by George A. Reisch

VOLUME 31

Johnny Cash and Philosophy: The Burning Ring of Truth (2008) Edited by John Huss and David Werther

VOLUME 32

Bruce Springsteen and Philosophy: Darkness on the Edge of Truth (2008) Edited by Randall E. Auxier and Doug Anderson

VOLUME 33

Battlestar Galactica and Philosophy: Mission Accomplished or Mission Frakked Up? (2008) Edited by Josef Steiff and Tristan D. Tamplin

VOLUME 34

iPod and Philosophy: iCon of an ePoch (2008) Edited by D.E. Wittkower

VOLUME 35

Star Trek and Philosophy: The Wrath of Kant (2008) Edited by Jason T. Eberl and Kevin S. Decker

VOLUME 36

The Legend of Zelda and Philosophy: I Link Therefore I Am (2008) Edited by Luke Cuddy

VOLUME 37

The Wizard of Oz and Philosophy: Wicked Wisdom of the West (2008) Edited by Randall E. Auxier and Phillip S. Seng

VOLUME 38

Radiohead and Philosophy: Fitter Happier More Deductive (2009) Edited by Brandon W. Forbes and George A. Reisch

VOLUME 39

Jimmy Buffett and Philosophy: The Porpoise Driven Life (2009) Edited by Erin McKenna and Scott L. Pratt

VOLUME 40

Transformers and Philosophy (2009) Edited by John Shook and Liz Stillwaggon Swan

VOLUME 41

Stephen Colbert and Philosophy: I Am Philosophy (And So Can You!) (2009) Edited by Aaron Allen Schiller

VOLUME 42

Supervillains and Philosophy: Sometimes, Evil Is Its Own Reward (2009) Edited by Ben Dyer

VOLUME 43 The Golden Compass and Philosophy:

God Bites the Dust (2009) Edited by Richard Greene and Rachel Robison

VOLUME 44

Led Zeppelin and Philosophy: All Will Be Revealed (2009) Edited by Scott Calef

VOLUME 45

World of Warcraft and Philosophy: Wrath of the Philosopher King (2009) Edited by Luke Cuddy and John Nordlinger

Volume 46

Mr. Monk and Philosophy: The Curious Case of the Defective Detective (2010) Edited by D.E. Wittkower

Volume 47

Anime and Philosophy: Wide Eyed Wonder (2010) Edited by Josef Steiff and Tristan Tamplin

VOLUME 48

The Red Sox and Philosophy: Green Monster Meditations (2010) Edited by Michael Macomber

VOLUME 49

Zombies, Vampires, and Philosophy (2010) Edited by Richard Greene and K. Silem Mohammad

IN PREPARATION:

Facebook and Philosophy: Whats on Your Mind? (2010) Edited by D.E. Wittkower

Soccer and Philosophy (2010) Edited by Ted Richards

Manga and Philosophy (2010) Edited by Josef Steiff and Adam Barkman

The Onion and Philosophy (2010) Edited by Sharon M. Kaye

Martial Arts and Philosophy: Beating and Nothingness (2010) Edited by Graham Priest and Damon Young

Dune and Philosophy (2010) Edited by Jeffrey Nicholas

Doctor Who and Philosophy (2010) Edited by Paula J. Smithka and Court Lewis

Breaking Bad and Philosophy (2011) Edited by David R. Koepsell

For full details of all Popular Culture and Philosophy books, visit www.opencourtbooks.com .

To all of our teachers

A Few Start-of-Term Notices

If Aristotle Ran Hogwarts was made possible because of the contributions and collaboration of a mess of Muggles. First wed like to thank our faculty, who put so much energy and insight into their essays and lesson plans. Their Hermione-like willingness to work so hard to make philosophy with Harry both captivating and substantive was nothing less than inspiring.

Many thanks for the leadership and guiding vision provided by William Irwin and David Ramsay Steele at the Ministry of Magic. Greg Bassham, whose seventh-grade teachers paddle came from a branch of the Whomping Willow, also deserves special mention and extra chocolate frogs for his incredible generosity throughout the entire project.

Numerous friends supplied us with their encouragement, correction, and support. In particular: Cathy Chulis, Jerry Walls, Elton Higgs, Stuart Noell, Charissa van der Merwe, Maureen Linker, Ginger Asel, Patrick Stephens, and especially Kimberly Blessing. Each of them deserves some special words of thanks, so here they are: oijasdold and sgnisselb .

Tom Morris offered unflagging enthusiasm and encouragement throughout the entire project, not to mention the inspiration behind our subtitle. Aeon Skoble was a great tutorproviding guidance, suggestions, and advice as needed. Rose Alaimo gave numerous pep talks while lending an ear to interminable updates, which meant countless delays in vacations to Hogsmeade (or even Binghamton). Kristen Kleins unwavering support and understanding helped make the long hours of studying for the OWLs go by quickly. And Steve Pattersons help, which immeasurably benefited the book, came in more varieties than Bertie Botts Beans.

Paula Chaiken, while driving herself crazy coming up with anagrams for Quaffle, provided invaluable assistance as a proofer of the whole manuscript. She was always willing to be honest about what she liked and what she didnt, even without a truth potion! The book wouldnt have been the same without her. Abby Myerswhose deepest desire is for a pair of thick, woolen sockswas an excellent student assistant who proofread the entire manuscript and tracked down needed references. Special thanks to both of them, not to mention fifty points for both of their houses.

Abbreviations

The following abbreviations are used in referring to the Harry Potter books. All quotations are from the American editions, published by Scholastic, and all page references are to those editions.