Philosophy prof makes room for Harry Potter

New Tyndale professor writes on Harry Potter and Philosophy

Patricia Paddey
Ontario Correspondent
ontario@christianweek.org

TORONTO, ON-When Jennifer Hart Weed teaches History of Philosophy I to undergraduate students at Tyndale University College this fall, she’ll be covering the theories of Plato and Aristotle, then moving into the middle ages to examine the teachings of St. Augustine and Thomas Aquinas.

Time permitting, Hart Weed also hopes to instruct her students in the philosophical lessons to be learned from Harry Potter.

Hart Weed, 32, is new on staff at Tyndale, and is the sole Canadian contributor to a book due out this month called Harry Potter and Philosophy: If Aristotle Ran Hogwarts. Part of the popular culture and philosophy series published by Open Court Press, this latest book joins others in a series, which includes The Matrix and Philosophy, Seinfeld and Philosophy and The Simpsons and Philosophy.

Each book is made up of a series of articles by different philosophers who examine the philosophical issues raised by their pop culture subjects.

Hart Weed’s contribution to the book is a paper titled, “Voldemort, Boethius and the destructive effects of evil,” and examines what Hart Weed describes as “the interesting metamorphosis” that occurs in Voldemort, the main villain of the Harry Potter series.

“In general, my thesis is that evil activity is destructive to a human being,” she explains.

It is a thesis that Hart Weed sees played out on the pages of the Potter books, which she describes as “a complicated morality tale.

“[Rawlings] connects a person’s character with their actions, and then also with the kind of life that they have. She’s making the claim that Voldemort has a miserable life.”

Boethius was a Christian philosopher and politician who lived in the fifth century. “He put forward a view that evil is self-destructive to an evil-doer” says Hart Weed, “so I draw a comparison between his general view of ethics and human nature going on in the morality tale in Harry Potter.”

Hart Weed says that while parents should decide what’s appropriate for their children to read, she has been disappointed in the fact that many Christians “seem afraid” of Harry Potter.

“What I really wanted to express in that particular essay is that there is actually a very respectable and healthy view of good and evil in the book, and its something that would be healthy to talk to children about,” she says.