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The Philosophy of Tolkien: The Worldview Behind The Lord of the Rings

peter kreeft

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To learn more about J.R.R. Tolkien visit Wh ile nothing can equal or replace the adventure in reading Tolkien’s masterwork, The Lord of the Rings , Peter Kreeft says that the journey into its underlying philosophy can be another exhilarating adventure.
Thus, Kreeft takes the reader on a voyage of discovery into the philosophical bones of Middle earth. He organizes the philosophical themes in The Lord of the Rings into 50 categories, accompanied by over 1,000 references to the text of Lord.Since many of the great questions of philosophy are included in the 50-theme outline, this book can also be read as an engaging introduction to philosophy. For each of the philosophical topics in Lord, Kreeft presents tools by which they can be understood. Illustrated.

237 pages, Paperback

First published October 1,2005

This edition

Format
237 pages, Paperback
Published
November 4, 2005 by Ignatius Press
ISBN
9781586170257
ASIN
1586170252
Language
English

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About the author

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peter kreeft

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Peter Kreeft is a Catholic apologist, professor of philosophy at Boston College and The King's College, and author of over 45 books including Fundamentals of the Faith, Everything you Ever Wanted to Know about Heaven, and Back to Virtue. Some consider him the best Catholic philosopher currently residing in the United States. His ideas draw heavily from religious and philosophical tradition, especially Thomas Aquinas, Socrates, G. K. Chesterton and C. S. Lewis. Kreeft has writings on Socratic logic, the sea, Jesus Christ, the Summa Theologica, angels, Blaise Pascal, and Heaven, as well as his work on the Problem of Evil, for which he was interviewed by Lee Strobel in his bestseller, The Case for Faith.

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Bladezofury
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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The Philosophy of Tolkien: The Worldview Behind the Lord of the Rings, Peter Kreeft

The Philosophy of Tolkien: The Worldview Behind The Lord of the Rings (2005). Kreeft takes the reader on a voyage of discovery into the philosophical bones of Middle earth. He organizes the philosophical themes in The Lord of the Rings into 50 categories, accompanied by over one thousand references to the text of The Lord of the Rings.

تاریخ نخستین خوانش: روز چهارم ماه می سال2015میلادی

عنوان: فلسفه ی تالکین جهان بینی پشت ارباب حلقه ها؛ نویسنده: پیتر کریفت؛ موضوع: نوشتاری درباره ی ارباب حلقه ها - از نویسندگان ایالات متحده آمریکا - سده21م

کریفت خوانشگر خویش را به سفری اکتشافی به استخوانهای فلسفی سرزمین میانه میبرند؛ ایشان نوشتارهای فلسفی «ارباب حلقه ها» را در پنجاه دسته سازماندهی میکنند، که با بیش از هزار ارجاع و نمونه از متن «ارباب حلقه ها» همراه هستند

تاریخ بهنگام رسانی 15/02/1400هجری خورشیدی؛ 23/12/1400هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی
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shintai88
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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Peter Kreeft, a prolific Catholic Christian author and professor of philosophy guides us through J.R.R Tolkien's world view as made evident to us in his richly Christian, Catholic even, works. The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, The Silmarillion and his essays and other works show us how Tolkien wove his beliefs and philosophy thru ought his sub-creation of Middle Earth.
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Thejacensolo
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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This is the best book I’ve ever read on Tolkien. Read Tolkien first. But if you want to read ABOUT Tolkien, and his thoroughly Christian vision of things, I can’t recommend this book by Peter Kreeft enough.

Kreeft is a familiar name among Christian philosophers and apologists. He is a very committed Roman Catholic and often points out these aspects of Tolkien’s work. But he also presents a fairly sympathetically broad Christian view as well.

The book also serves as a broad introduction to the subject of philosophy and Kreeft often quotes from C. S. Lewis in making his points from Tolkien. So any Lewis fan should enjoy this work as well.

Highly, highly recommended for those interested in the philosophical and worldview aspects of Tolkien’s works.
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Brad_Wine
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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Peter J. Kreeft’s The Philosophy of Tolkien is a really good book. While he uses this text to reaffirm his own belief in a Christian god, and these elves are not really Christian, we feel certain that his conclusions are an accurate reflection of Tolkien’s own beliefs, for he was a Catholic. Often, it seems to these elves that Mr. Kreeft while appearing to use logic and reason for his affirmation of his Christian beliefs actually, at the last moment, does a sort of intellectual slight of hand and ends up with faith rather than fact for his final assertions. However, that doesn’t bother us at all. Being lovers of Tolkien’s works and having an undergraduate degree in Philosophy and Religion we find this book quite well written and intriguing, even if it is not always logical. But then, we are elves and Mr. Kreeft is clearly, like Tolkien, a hobbit and our worldviews tend to be different. Still, we know that in sharing Middle Earth with these hobbits we are dealing with good, decent folk, and really what more can one ask for?

The Silver Elves authors of Faerie Unfolding: The Cosmic Expression of the Divine.
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dabechesgodie
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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Peter Kreeft reminds me of my grandfather, Michael. Michael was a Catholic intellectual who studied at seminary for awhile, and was very well versed in the Aquinas-themed teachings of the Church. I can still see him in my mind's eye, standing in my grandmother's kitchen proclaiming "Vanity! Vanity, all things are vanity!" with a twinkle in his own very blue Irish eyes. He taught me a lot about the intellectual underpinnings of Catholicism. I think of him often, gone now almost 20 years.

Kreeft has written an introduction to philosophy through the lens of Tolkien...kind of. The author introduces the big topics in philosophy--ethics, metaphysics, moral reasoning, language--and uses Tolkien's writings as examples of thinking through these issues. With that said, I think there is more C.S. Lewis than Tolkien in this book! Don't get me wrong: I love me some C.S. Lewis, but there was not quite as much Tolkien as the title implied...

Regardless, a good book. Not a light read, and deeply seated in Catholic philosophy and theology. I enjoyed this very much, and learned a few things (or was given some food for thought):

1. Evil cannot create, only mock and corrupt (like with ents and trolls, or orcs and elves).
2. Mercy is very important. Is it more important than justice?
3. Something being made of something vs. what something is.
4. Enchantment vs. reductionism (this point hit my empirical, rational, scientific self hard)
5. The cheerful acceptance in the hobbit's walking song vs. Macbeth's "all of our yesterdays" speech.
6. The logos vs. the Tao.
7. Farimar's words about war (not loving the sword, but loving what the sword protects).
8. The cycle of history: blessings, prosperity, laziness and pride, decline, disaster...then blessing.

(These are all the notes I jotted in the back of the book).


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frachma99
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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If you like LOTR and are interested in philosophy, this is a good book for you. It is similar to many of the author's other works and echoes arguments he makes in brief elsewhere, but it is still an enjoyable and accurate summary of Tolkien's philosophy as understood in LOTR.
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domodoggie
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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This is really interesting and provides a very fascinating way to experience LOTR. Kreeft is insightful and pulls from various Western philosophies to interpret Tokien's writing. There were also a significant amount of quotes/examples pulled from C.S. Lewis, which although also interesting, I felt maybe took a bit away from the focus on Tolkien.

The language is not particularly accessible, and the book does require a relatively substantial background in philosophy in order to be appreciated fully.
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KitaTsuki
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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Love for LOTR rekindled!

Peter Kreeft adroitly weaves together the rich tapestry of writings of C.S. Lewis, Tolkein, Plato, and Scripture into a discernible image of the true, good, and beautiful. I am delighted to venture forth again into the world of Middle-Earth but with new eyes to discover what was hidden but now discernible with the help of a guide to life's 50 great philosophical questions. Thank you!
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