J. R. R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy, which became a literary phenomenon of the 20th century, rose to a new wave of popularity with the release of Peter Jackson's film - gaining millions of new fans and, alas, losing to some extent its depth. Having set out to offer the mass reader and viewer their own alternative to the widely replicated Tolkien, the authors of this book tried to write a kind of “Lord of the Rings for the smart.” Seventeen philosophers and academics present their essays on the deep and eternal questions raised by Tolkien’s text: the nature of evil, the the essence of power, about death and immortality, about the relationship between man and nature, about what happiness is. The book will certainly be of interest to fans of Tolkien and the cinematic version of The Lord of the Rings, as well as philologists, philosophers, cultural scientists and everyone who is curious about unexpected angles on familiar topics.

We hope that this publication will not only help you understand many other, more complex books whose themes are touched upon by The Lord of the Rings, but will also attract your attention to the eternal questions of philosophy. In his letters, Tolkien notes that the purpose of writing The Lord of the Rings was, in part, "to explain truth and support morality in our real world." Like Tolkien, we believe that literature and popular culture in general can act as effective mediators in explaining and popularizing basic philosophical ideas to readers. Such popularization goes back at least to Socrates, the first great philosopher of Western civilization. By encouraging people to reflect on their lives and faith, Socrates often resorted to examples from art, sports, music - depending on the interests and knowledge of his interlocutor. Likewise, we believe that modern pop culture has the power to encourage people to think about global philosophical questions. So, light up your Hobbit pipe, warm your soul with a generous sip of Elvish liqueur. And, as the wizard-philosopher Gandalf said, “if until now you have been wandering with your eyes and ears closed, wake up now!”

“The Lord of the Rings” as philosophy: EssayTranslation from English by A. BarkovEkaterinburg: U- Factoria, 2005. - 304 pp. Series "Masscult" ISBN 5-9709-0090-7DJVU 1.9 MB Quality: scanned pages Language: Russian

CONTENTS Acknowledgments7Introduction: the wisdom of Middle-earth 9

Part one . RING1.Rings of Plato and Tolkien: lessons of power, choice and moralityEric Katz 152.Mount Doom: the danger of new technologies and Tolkien’s One RingTheodore Schick 373.“My Precious”: Fetish RingAlison Milbank 53

Part two. JOURNEY TO HAPPINESS 4. Tolkien's Six Keys to Happiness Gregory Basham 735. Sam and Gollum: The Pursuit of Happiness Jorge Gracia 886. “Farewell Lórien”: The Limited Joy of Elves and Existentialists Eric Bronson 103

Part Three. GOOD AND EVIL IN MIDDLE-EARTH7.Super-Hobbits: Tolkien, Nietzsche and the Will to PowerDouglas K. Blount 1238.Tolkien and the Nature of EvilScott E. Davison 1399.Virtue and Vice in The Lord of the RingsEon J. Scoble 153

Part fourth. TIME AND MORTALITY10.Choosing Death: The Gift of Mortality in Middle-earthBill Davis 16911.Tolkien, Modernism and the Meaning of TraditionJoe Crouse 18712.Tolkien's Green Time: Environmental Themes Wednesdays in The Lord of the RingsAndrew Light 205

Part five. FINALS AND ENDINGS 13. Providence and dramatic unity of "The Lord of the Rings" Thomas Hibbs 14. Talking trees and walking mountains: Buddhist and Taoist themes in "The Lord of the Rings" Jennifer L. McManon, B. Steve Chucky 24415. The wonderful adventures of Sam and Frodo: motives travels with TolkienJ. Lynore Wright 26116.Happy ending and religious hope: “The Lord of the Rings” - a fairy-tale epicJohn J. Davenport 277