A fun introduction to many philosophical ideas by using written works of Tolkien and Lewis as a template. Because of this, it’s also a good exploration of philosophy with a Biblical context.

I have always loved the fantasy of J R R Tolkien, and Peter Kreeft explains why his work feels so Christian despite the fact that it never mentions God. Kreeft breaks Tolkien’s writing down logically and philosophically, and I enjoyed his insights. He was a little pedantic at times, but that is to be expected since he is a college professor. I will probably read this book again. I picked up lots of interesting connections in the first reading, but a second would give me a better overall view of Tolkien’s method.

I enjoyed the general content of the book, but the book's attempt to serve both as one that can read cover-to-cover and a reference book is apparent. It can be quite repetitive, which makes sense as a reference piece.

Some of the author's judgements were too general and sweeping for me to accept: No one teaches Tolkien because instructors are progressive and liberal; literary critics, art critics, liturgists are the only ones who don't know good literature, art, or liturgy, etc. Isn't he a professor? Would the liturgist in Pope Benedict not know good liturgy? I understands what he means, but broad sweeping general statements often aren't accurate, reflective of reality, or at least, reveal the author's bias without the author stating it as such.

All that said, once you get past the generalisms, mostly in the first chapter or two, this is a very enlightening look at Tolkien, his worldview, and how it is reflected in LOTR.

Apparently, professor of philosophy P. Kreeft wanted to write a book named "The Theology of C.S. Lewis", and so he did, but for some reason he dubbed it "The Philosophy of Tolkien". Yes, I know C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien were friends, but that's no reason to make such a crude substitution. There is not much philosophy nor Tolkien in this book. It's rather a bunch of unstructured theological reflections of the author himself backed by the C.S. Lewis's quotes.
One more thing to note. Just compare writing styles of two professors: professor Kreeft and professor Tolkien.
A very disappointing book with an utterly misleading title. I don't recommend it.

Best book on Tolkiens philosophy I have ever read. Beautiful, unique and deep imageries pulled out in here.

this was good but a bit too much focus on the theological aspects and very little on political / social aspects. i can't seem to find a good book on tolkien analyzed from a right-wing perspective.

I had never read anything by Kreeft before, and the terseness caught me off guard and felt a bit abrupt at times. The book felt disjointed in places, because he moves so quickly through so many huge topics. When I finished, I felt that I had garnered a lot of nice tidbits.

Book 24 of my 25 book goal. My 25th book will hopefully be The Fellowship of the Ring by JRR Tolkien. I have 18 days.

JRR Tolkien was a faithful Catholic and said that Lord of the Rings was a Catholic story, and after seeing the movies I wanted to know what made the story.... Catholic... which is why I read this book.

The Philosophy of Tolkien I felt made a few jumps from philosophy to the story that I didn't entirely feel were connected, but then again I think it was the intention that the reader of this book had already read the Lord of the Rings.

After reading about this I just became more and more excited to read the trilogy. And he made a lot of deep philosophical points which I appreciated. 3.5 stars for me.

Kreeft's interpretation of The Lord of the Rings (and the universe, quite frankly) will never match mine due to his firm Catholicism, but he offers here probably the closest thing to Tolkien's own reading of the book, which is valuable.

Where do I start. In writing this book, Kreeft is intellectually dishonest, dismissive, and condescending, and he demonstrates exceedingly poor scholarship.

Normally I'd keep a negative review like this to myself, but because Kreeft is a public figure and this is a book that people are likely to read and be influenced by (in part because of Kreeft's position as a professor of philosophy at a notable college), I feel like it's important to add this review to the list.

Strap in...

My criticisms. First, the premise of the book is intellectually dishonest. This is not a philosophy of Tokien. It is the theology of Kreeft. He does not present things as "what Tokien believed", but rather presents certain claims as true and uses LOTR to "prove" the truth of those claims. It's ludicrous. Fiction doesn't demonstrate -- it illustrates. And it doesn't illustrate truths but beliefs. While there is certainly a worldview of LOTR, and while Kreeft does make assumptions that Tokien certainly shared (the assumptions of Christianity, mostly), LOTR is not a Christian world. Christianity was an influence, but Kreeft uses LOTR to demonstrate his own beliefs. If he were honestly trying to demonstrate the worldview of LOTR, he would have analyzed LOTR much, much more deeply and intricately. We get far more of Kreeft's opinion than of an LOTR analysis.

Secondly, the use of the word "philosophy" in the title drives me bonkers. This is a theology. Kreeft uses philosophical fields and themes to examine Tokien's theology -- philosophy is a tool he uses to make theological arguments.

Thirdly, the tone. DEAR HEAVENS, THE TONE. Kreeft dismisses every philosophical position that conflicts with his own. There is no room in his presentation for the validity of other interpretations of things that we cannot know for certain. I am all for holding opinions, even of opinions that can't be proven (such is life), but this was incredibly off-putting and egregious, especially for a professor of philosophy.

Finally, Kreeft relies very heavily on C.S. Lewis's theology to argue for Tokien's. In some ways, this makes sense. Lewis wrote far more theological/apologetic works than Tokien, and the two were good friends and fellow Christians -- surely they shared some big, overarching beliefs. But Lewis featured so prominently, and primarily in defense of Kreeft's stated opinions, that Tokien was lost far more than he was found in those passages.

Ok, after all that negative, I do have a positive. It will sound passive-aggressive, but I mean it sincerely. Encountering different arguments, even poor ones, for claims to truth is helpful and good. It sparks new ways of arguing for what is real, true, and logical. It forces us to clarify arguments in new and slightly different ways, which leads us to make better arguments or to modify our beliefs if we come up with something we can't explain or argue well for. It also makes us better at communicating with people we disagree with. Kreeft's rhetorical style is not one that honestly engages with truth, but only with established, personal, and biased opinions. That in itself is an important style to learn to identify.

I am absolutely shocked that Kreeft is a professor of philosophy at such a reputable college. His utter disdain for the field should be disqualifying. I would be interested in hearing his actual philosophical arguments and engaging with them on an intellectually honest level, but Kreeft does not provide that opportunity in this book. This book offered so much on the title and delivered almost nothing substantive. Such a disappointment.

So very disappointed. It started off strongly, then came this on page 43:

"Heliocentrism, evolution, and relativity are true ideas only if they conform the scientist's mind to the objective physical world; but this world is truly Heliocentric, evolutionary, and relavltive only if it confirms to the divine Idea and design for it. (And everything does that except man. Only in man is there a gap between God's design and temporal fact. The word for that is 'sin".) "

Hold on... What?

So this book, supposedly about the Philosophy of Tolkien, is really just a chance for the author to go on and on about his own religious views.

It really ruined it for me.

A very engaging peek into the themes strewn throughout Tolkien's trilogy. Insightful and very well organized.