The Hobbit and Philosophy

For When You've Lost Your Dwarves, Your Wizard, and Your Way

Gregory Bassham, Eric Bronson, William Irwin

• Publisher: Wiley
• Year: 2012
• Print ISBN: 9780470405147
• eBook ISBN: 9781118233894
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Philosophy
• Subtopic: Philosophy History & Theory

A philosophical exploration of J.R.R. Tolkien's beloved classic—just in time for the December 2012 release of Peter Jackson's new film adaptation, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit is one of the best-loved fantasy books of all time and the enchanting "prequel" to The Lord of the Rings. With the help of some of history's great philosophers, this book ponders a host of deep questions raised in this timeless tale, such as: Are adventures simply "nasty, disturbing, uncomfortable things" that "make you late for dinner, " or are they exciting and potentially life-changing events? What duties do friends have to one another? Should mercy be extended even to those who deserve to die?

• Gives you new insights into The Hobbit 's central characters, including Bilbo Baggins, Gandalf, Gollum, and Thorin and their exploits, from the Shire through Mirkwood to the Lonely Mountain
• Explores key questions about The Hobbit 's story and themes, including: Was the Arkenstone really Bilbo's to give? How should Smaug's treasure have been distributed? Did Thorin leave his "beautiful golden harp" at Bag-End when he headed out into the Wild? (If so, how much could we get for that on eBay?)
• Draws on the insights of some of the world's deepest thinkers, from Confucius, Plato, and Aristotle to Immanuel Kant, William Blake, and contemporary American philosopher Thomas Nagel

From the happy halls of Elrond's Last Homely House to Gollum's "slimy island of rock, " this is a must read for longtime Tolkien fans as well as those discovering Bilbo Baggins and his adventures "there and back again" for the first time.

PART ONE

DISCOVER YOUR INNER TOOK

Chapter 1

THE ADVENTUROUS HOBBIT

Gregory Bassham

The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials.

—Confucius

The Hobbit is a tale of adventure. It is also a story of personal growth. At the beginning of the tale, Bilbo is a conventional, unadventurous, comfort-loving hobbit. As the story progresses, he grows in courage, wisdom, and self-confidence. The Hobbit is similar in this respect to The Lord of the Rings. Both are tales, J. R. R. Tolkien informs us, of the ennoblement of the humble.1 Both are stories of ordinary persons—small in the eyes of the “wise” and powerful—who accomplish great things and achieve heroic stature by accepting challenges, enduring hardships, and drawing on unsuspected strengths of character and will.

What’s the connection between an adventurous spirit and personal growth? How can challenge and risk—a willingness to leave our own safe and comfy hobbit-holes—make us stronger, happier, and more confident individuals? Let’s see what Bilbo and the great thinkers can teach us about growth and human potential.

A Hobbit’s Progress

Hobbits in general are not an adventurous folk—quite the opposite. Hobbits “love peace and quiet and good tilled earth”; have never been warlike or fought among themselves; take great delight in the simple pleasures of eating, drinking, smoking, and partying; rarely travel; and consider “queer” any hobbit who has adventures or does anything out of the ordinary.2

Bilbo is an unusual hobbit in this regard. His mother, the famous Belladonna Took, belonged to a clan, the Tooks, who were not only rich but also notorious for their love of adventure. One of Bilbo’s uncles, Isengar, was rumored to have “gone to sea” in his youth, and another uncle, Hildifons, “went off on a journey and never returned.”3 Bilbo’s remote ancestor, Bandobras “Bullroarer” Took, was famous in hobbit lore for knocking a goblin king’s head off with a club. The head rolled down a rabbit hole, and thus Bullroarer simultaneously won the Battle of Green Fields and invented the game of golf.4

In contrast, the Bagginses, Bilbo’s father’s side of the family, were thoroughly respectable hobbits who never did anything unexpected or adventurous. The conflict between these two parts of Bilbo’s makeup is frequently played out in The Hobbit.

Gandalf noticed Bilbo’s adventurous Tookish side when he visited the Shire in 2941, twenty years before the events described in The Hobbit. The young Bilbo impressed Gandalf with his “eagerness and his bright eyes, and his love of tales, and his questions about the wide world.”5 When Gandalf returned to the Shire two decades later, he found that Bilbo “was getting rather greedy and fat,” but he was pleased to hear that Bilbo was still regarded as “queer” for doing odd things like going off for days by himself and talking with dwarves.6 When Bilbo says good morning to Gandalf and dismisses adventures as “nasty disturbing uncomfortable things” that “make you late for dinner,” Gandalf realizes that the Baggins side of Bilbo’s personality is winning out.7

Bilbo’s inner Took is rekindled, however, by the dwarves’ treasure song and Gloin’s slighting reference to him as “that little fellow bobbing and puffing on the mat.”8 Bilbo reluctantly agrees to join the dwarves’ quest and finds himself in an adventure that proves to also be a quest for his own true self. Quite early in his perilous journey, Bilbo realizes that “adventures are not all pony-rides in May-sunshine.”9 He is constantly fearful and dependent and often thinks regretfully of his cozy hobbit-hole with the kettle just beginning to sing.

On several occasions he is saved by sheer luck. Gradually, however, his confidence and courage grow. Alone and unaided, he is able to outwit Gollum, escape from the goblins’ cave, and free his companions from both the Mirkwood spiders and the Elvenking’s fortress. When the Company arrives at the Lonely Mountain, it is Bilbo who discovers how to open the secret door, and only he has the courage to walk down the dark tunnel to face the terror of the dragon. “Already,” we are told, “he was a very different hobbit from the one that had run out without a pocket-handkerchief from Bag-End long ago.”10

His decision to continue walking down the tunnel when he hears the dragon’s rumblings “was the bravest thing he ever did.”11 When Bilbo returns with a beautiful two-handled cup he stole from the dragon’s hoard, he is acknowledged as “the real leader” in the dwarves’ quest.12 Later, when Bilbo risks his life and unselfishly gives up the Arkenstone in an effort to prevent a fratricidal war over dragon-gold, the Elvenking praises him as “more worthy to wear the armour of elf-princes than many that have looked more comely in it” and later lauds him as “Bilbo the Magnificent.”13

After the Battle of Five Armies, the dying Thorin Oakenshield recognizes Bilbo’s growth in moral stature, remarking that there “is more in you of good than you know, child of the kindly West. Some courage and some wisdom, blended in measure.”14 And when Bilbo recites a bittersweet homecoming poem upon his return to the Shire, Gandalf exclaims, “My dear Bilbo! Something is the matter with you! You are not the hobbit that you were.”15

In short, The Hobbit is an adventure tale in which an ordinary and distinctly nonheroic person is morally ennobled by confronting and overcoming challenges and dangers. But how is such a transformation possible? Let’s consider what some of the world’s great philosophers have said about the linkage between challenge and personal growth.

Bilbo’s Growth in Wisdom

Men shall learn wisdom, by affliction schooled.

—Aeschylus

Humans can grow in various respects: physically, emotionally, spiritually, artistically, and so forth. Merry and Pippin grew physically—they became several inches taller—after drinking the Ent-draughts in Fangorn Forest. But in Bilbo’s case we’re talking about moral and intellectual growth. In traditional philosophical terms, Bilbo grows in both wisdom and virtue as a result of his adventures. The term “philosophy” derives from Greek roots meaning “the love of wisdom.” So to help us get our bearings, let’s start by asking: What is wisdom?

Not all philosophical and religious traditions conceive of wisdom in the same way. A Zen Buddhist’s definition of wisdom won’t be the same as that offered by a Hindu or a Southern Baptist. But we needn’t be stymied by specific theoretical disagreements. Nearly all philosophical and religious traditions agree that wisdom, whatever it is precisely, consists of deep insight about living.16 A wise person understands what’s important in life, keeps lesser things in proper perspective, and understands what’s needed in order to live well and to cope with the problems of life.17 Wisdom comes in degrees. Gandalf is wiser than Elrond, and Elrond is wiser than Bard. But however, exactly, we define wisdom, it’s clear that Bilbo is wiser at the end of The Hobbit than he was at the beginning. How did this occur?

Philosophers have noted two important ways in which challenging experiences can make us wiser: they can deepen our self-understanding and they can broaden our experiences. With Bilbo, we can see both factors at work.

The first step toward becoming wise, Socrates (ca. 470–399 BCE) said, is to realize how little you know. “Know thyself” was his mantra. Socrates saw that people tend to have inflated views of themselves. They tend to be overconfident and imagine that they know more than they do or that they are better in some way than they really are. People who think they’re already wise and good won’t be motivated to pursue wisdom and goodness. So the first and most important step toward becoming wise, Socrates declared, is to engage in fearless self-examination.

We should constantly be asking ourselves the following: Do I really know this, or do I only think I do? Could I be wrong? Could I be guilty of wishful thinking? Am I living the life I want to live? Am I walking the walk I talk? What are my true talents and abilities? How can I live most meaningfully and authentically? Only in this way can we root out our self-deceptions, discove...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Contents
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Acknowledgments: Thag You Very Buchx
• Introduction: Never Laugh at Live Philosophers
• Part One: Discover Your Inner Took
• Part Two: The Good, The Bad, and The Slimy
• Part Three: Riddles and Rings
• Part Four: Being There and Back Again
• Contributors: Our Most Excellent and Audacious Contributors
• Index: The Moon Letters