March 21, 2003

Professor Uses Tolkien's Trilogy to Lure Students to Philosophy

By THOMAS BARTLETT

Some eyebrows were raised when John Davenport told officials at Fordham University that he wanted to teach a philosophy course based on J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings trilogy. "Is this serious? Is this really worth three credits?" Mr. Davenport, an assistant professor of philosophy, remembers them asking.

He assured them it was. Many of the problems Tolkien deals with -- for instance, does being a decent person make you happy? -- can be traced to Plato and Aristotle. And the

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