The Philosophy of Tolkien
and over 1.5 million other books are available for Amazon Kindle . Learn more
| |||||||||||||||
 Trade In this Item for up to £1.88
Trade in The Philosophy of Tolkien: The Worldview Behind The "Lord of the Rings" for an Amazon.co.uk gift card of up to £1.88, which you can then spend on millions of items across the site. Trade-in values may vary (terms apply). Special Offer until June 30, 2013: Receive an additional £5 promotional Gift Card, when you trade-in at least £10 worth of books. Learn more
|
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, and more.
Product Description
Synopsis
The philosopher and author, Peter Kreeft, presents what he calls "a second adventure of discovery." While nothing can equal, or replace, the adventure in reading Tolkien's masterwork, "The Lord of the Rings", Kreeft says that the journey into the underlying philosophy of Tolkien, or his "world-view", can be another exhilarating adventure. Thus, he takes the reader on a voyage of discovery into the philosophical bones of Middle earth. Like a good concordance, this book organises the philosophical themes in "The Lord of the Rings" into 50 categories, accompanied by over 1,000 references to the text.
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
By Rauf Asadov
Format:Paperback
What is special about the Lord of the Rings is that you want to read it again and again. It is a great prose, of course, but there are other reasons for getting enchanted with that masterpiece.
One can try to identify important philosophical issues which the book addresses, but it takes a brilliant intellectual to venture a profound analysis of the book's attraction. Peter Kreeft is just the kind of an author who can do that successfully. Reading his books is an intellectual pleasure and this one no exceptions. If this is your first book of Peter Kreeft, I hope it will prompt you to get acquainted with his other works too. (Not all of them are in print. An exellent series of lectures on the history of moral thought is available only as a download on [...] or [...]
One can try to identify important philosophical issues which the book addresses, but it takes a brilliant intellectual to venture a profound analysis of the book's attraction. Peter Kreeft is just the kind of an author who can do that successfully. Reading his books is an intellectual pleasure and this one no exceptions. If this is your first book of Peter Kreeft, I hope it will prompt you to get acquainted with his other works too. (Not all of them are in print. An exellent series of lectures on the history of moral thought is available only as a download on [...] or [...]
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
By Gandalf
Format:Paperback
This is a good read by a good author. More to the point, the book appealed to me on several levels. First, Dr. Kreeft provides a summary of the classic world view that rests behind Tolkein's great work. Kreeft ties the themes of LOTR with Philosophy as it used to be understood and taught. Secondly, the book serves as an outline of philosophy 101; this should be of value to many who despite a university education, still do not know their Ontology from their Ethics. Finally, as always when reading the works of Peter Kreeft, his Christian world view comes through loud and clear with the force of reason and faith. And, as iceing on the cake, Kreeft ties in the works and words of C. S. Lewis on each major point. Tolkein, Lewis and Kreeft, a bargain at any price and well worth the readers time.
Enjoy.
Enjoy.
By Ann Wilson
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is a well- thought- out and well-written book. I found it fascinating and it gives an extra dimension when reading Tolkein's works. I enjoyed it immensely.
5 of 8 people found the following review helpful
By Gadfly
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Please do not buy this book. I have no idea what has got into the other reviewers or how on God's green earth they could have rated this five stars. It gets one star from me only because Amazon require at least one. I will give you two good reasons not to buy; (i) if you love Tolkien and are looking for genuine insights into his work you will be very, very disappointed, and (ii) although it also presents itself as "an engaging introduction to philosophy" and is, apparently, by a philosopher, it is so philosophically off the wall as to be utterly bizarre and misleading, at best, and is sometimes just plain dumb (I write, for what it is worth, as someone who has taught philosophy at an established university for more than twenty years).
With respect to the first, the book borrows heavily from C. S. Lewis; so heavily, in fact, as to make you think you've bought a book about Lewis's philosophical viewpoint. There is often not much Tolkien in it. My advice, if you like the sort of discussions which interested Lewis, is to go and buy Lewis - it's a lot more interesting and readable than this. Often, when Tolkien does appear, Kreeft just gets him wrong. I often wondered whether he had bothered to read Tolkien, the errors are so basic (e.g. Eowyn is 'saved' from the Nazgul by Pippin). The 'insights' are often, well, bonkers. For example; "Tom Bombadil and Goldberry are quite possibly the Valar Aule and Yavanna". The entries he cites in support of this possibility simply suggest no such thing. And how about this: the great Tolkien puzzle, according to Kreeft, is how and why Tolkien "has produced the most convincing, desirable, beautiful, believable and awesome Elves. And the answer is," Kreeft suggests, "that he must have been an Elf. Or at least he had Elf blood somewhere in his ancestry.... Read more ›
With respect to the first, the book borrows heavily from C. S. Lewis; so heavily, in fact, as to make you think you've bought a book about Lewis's philosophical viewpoint. There is often not much Tolkien in it. My advice, if you like the sort of discussions which interested Lewis, is to go and buy Lewis - it's a lot more interesting and readable than this. Often, when Tolkien does appear, Kreeft just gets him wrong. I often wondered whether he had bothered to read Tolkien, the errors are so basic (e.g. Eowyn is 'saved' from the Nazgul by Pippin). The 'insights' are often, well, bonkers. For example; "Tom Bombadil and Goldberry are quite possibly the Valar Aule and Yavanna". The entries he cites in support of this possibility simply suggest no such thing. And how about this: the great Tolkien puzzle, according to Kreeft, is how and why Tolkien "has produced the most convincing, desirable, beautiful, believable and awesome Elves. And the answer is," Kreeft suggests, "that he must have been an Elf. Or at least he had Elf blood somewhere in his ancestry.... Read more ›
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
›
Go to Amazon.com to see all 28 reviews
4.1 out of 5 stars
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
|
|
Look for similar items by category
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
