As Crônicas de Nárnia e a Filosofia. O Leão, a Feiticeira e a Visão do Mundo

Popular Culture and Philosophy #15

by Gregory Bassham, William Irwin

Quando C. S. Lewis publicou As Crônicas de Nárnia, na década de 1950, sua intenção era fazer uma crítica à racionalidade, que limitava a imaginação e, muitas vezes, agia em detrimento da moral. O impacto da obra foi tão grande que excedeu o universo infantil, despertando o interesse do público adulto. Embora não seja novidade abordar temas sérios em contos de fadas e histórias consideradas infantis, As Crônicas de Nárnia diferencia-se pelo fato de conduzir as crianças a reflexões sobre conduta, ética, religião, fé, entre outras questões que sempre instigaram os filósofos antigos, bem como os contemporâneos.
'As Crônicas de Nárnia e a Filosofia' é uma coletânea de Gregory Bassham e Jerry L. Walls, que buscaram entrar nesse mundo inusitado não só para conhecer a história de cada um dos personagens, mas também para procurar entre 'os animais falantes', 'faunos' e 'bruxas' a verdadeira conduta que devemos ter na vida. E assim como as crianças têm a oportunidade de vivenciar, por meio da leitura, as emoções dos personagens, as dúvidas e os dilemas, os adultos também podem rever determinados conceitos e resgatar valores como altruísmo, heroísmo, amor, amizade, enfim, tudo o que é realmente verdadeiro

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction, Christian, Theology, Literary Criticism, Essays, Pop Culture

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[Jared Leonard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some really good essays in here about the underlying content of the Narnia books. They seem to be divided pretty evenly in addressing issues brought up intentionally by Lewis and issues derrived from those issues. Topics focused mainly on ethics/morality, though there was a good deal of anthropology and theology tossed in for good measure. All in all, a fair analysis of Narnia and its inhabitants. I would give it five stars if there weren't a few stinker essays; one on feminism, one on the salvation of animals and one on morality that just wasn't put together very well.

[Jeremy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very engaging read. The book is composed of essays covering topics such as Believing, Doubting and Knowing; Morality and the Good Life; Exploring the Deeper Nature of Reality; and Religion and the Transcendent.

One of the things I appreciated most was the obvious affection for the Chronicles shown by nearly all the authors. This book could have been a collection of essays by authors with an axe to grind, but instead the editors found contributors who could treat the source material respectfully while also illustrating basic philosophical concepts using examples from Lewis' prose.

[Sue · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been a Narnian for over 20 years now, and I was surprised that a book written about the Chronicles could offer me ideas that I hadn't thought of before (not to seem arrogant, but I've mentally hashed over these seven books for a long time and have gotten a number of relevations from them). It was a good way to be introduced to some concepts in philosophy, and I'm interested in reading several others of the series that I bought.

[Dusty · Rating 1 out of 5]

Quite a few 'philosophers' who use their understanding of historical philosophers to justify their belief in a christian God.

Waste of time, wouldn't recommend to anyone, not even avout christians.

[Tintinrulz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm not going to review "The Chronicles of Narnia and Philosophy: The Lion, the Witch, and the Worldview" but it's brilliant. Thought-provoking and comprehensive as all else and only slightly too academic (in terms of writing style) at times. I was encouraged that I only disagreed with a few of the essays. Not a light read but a very worthwhile book. Highly recommended. 9/10


The essay titles are listed below:

Part One - Farewell to Shadowlands: Believing, Doubting and Knowing
1. Aslan's Voice: C.S. Lewis and the Magic of Sound
2. Virtue Epistomology: Why Uncle Andrew Couldn't Hear the Animals Speak
3. Trusting Lucy: Believing the Incredible
4. Breaking the Spell of Skepticism: Puddleglum versus the Green Witch
5. At Any Rate There's No Humbug Here: Truth and Perspective

Part Two - The Tao in Narnia: Morality and the Good Life
6. Worth Dying For: Narnian Lessons on Heroism and Altruism
7. Work, Vocation, and the Good Life
8. The Tao of Narnia
9. Extreme Makeover: Moral Development and the Encounter with Aslan
10. Is It Good to Be Bad? Immoralism in Narnia
11. Narnia and the Moral Imagination
12. Beasts, Heroes and Monsters: Configuring the Moral Imaginary
13. No Longer a Friend: Gender in Narnia

Part Three - Further Up and Further In: Exploring the Deeper Nature of Reality
14. Plato in Narnia
15. Different Worlds, Different Bodies: Personal Identity in Narnia
16. Why Eustace Almost Deserved His Name: Lewis's Critique of Modern Secularism
17. Time Keeps on Ticking, Or Does It? The Significance of Time in The Chronicles of Narnia

Part Four - The Deepest Magic: Religion and the Transcendent
18. Aslan the Terrible: Painful Encounters with Absolute Goodness
19. Worthy of a Better God: Religious Diversity and Salvation in The Chronicles of Narnia
20. The Atonement in Narnia
21. The Green Witch and the Great Debate: Freeing Narnia from the Spell of the Lewis-Anscombe Legend
22. Some Dogs Go to Heaven: Lewis on Animal Salvation

[Charlotte (Bogrejser) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Going into reading this book, I really expected so much of it - but then I got to the second or third chapter, and the guy just wrote... so... exhaustingly... slow. This chapter was around 16 pages - and the author used only 1 of them to relate the philosophical stuff to Narnia. The other 15 pages were just plain, complicated philosophy.

Of course, a lot of philosophy is to be expected when picking up a book like this, but the book is supposed to be for everybody (and not just people with a general interest and/or knowledge of philosophy).

That being said, I did enjoy and (I think) fully understand some of the chapters. I'll also definitely be reading some of the others in this “series” (maybe just the one on Harry Potter...), as this book really did make me think of Narnia as something more than a children's tale.

Favourites of mine include the feminist one (Karin Fry, this one is truly the best!), the one on sound (Stephen H. Webb), on time (Michael & Adam Peterson), the communist-ish one (Devin Brown), the one on why Eustace almost deserved his name (Angus Menuge), and the one on Aslan the Terrible (Erik J. Wielenberg).

[Dann · Rating 3 out of 5]

The themes and meaning of C.S. Lewis’ epic fantasy series are explored in The Chronicles of Narnia and Philosophy: The Lion, the Witch, and the Worldview. Featuring 22 essays, a variety of authors discuss a number of topics, including moral imagination, gender politics, identity, time relativity, Ransom Theory, and animal immortality. And while the main focus is on the 7 children’s books that comprise the Chronicles, many of Lewis’ other works (The Abolition of Man, Mere Christianity, Miracles, etc.) are included in the discussions to gain a fuller understanding of the views that Lewis held and espoused throughout his writings. Some of the articles are overly complicated, but most of them are well-written and present interesting ideas and perspectives. Wonderfully thought-provoking, The Chronicles of Narnia and Philosophy: The Lion, the Witch, and the Worldview is an intriguing look at this most beloved fantasy series.

[Tim Gannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This turned out to be a real treat. I have always loved the Chronicles of Narnia. I was sitting around Barnes and Noble reading another book and by chance, my eyes fell on this book in the Bargain Books section. I thought it was well worth the 7$. The book is composed of numerous philosophical essays dealing with the ethical and spiritual significance of the Narnia series. They discussed philosopher's from Plato to current ones and their different philosophical views and how they compared with Lewis's views, the author of Narnia. I found it compelling due to all the thoughts and questions the essays brought to light. Being a rather simple reader, it was nice to have my brain stretched and to think about the series at a deeper level.

[Will · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although not as good as some of the other "_____ and Philosophy" books I've read, this book was still pretty good.

The chapters were repetitive at times (covering similar topics), and some of the claims were a bit dubious in my opinion. That being said, I think the saving grace of this book is that the various authors referenced C.S. Lewis's non-Narnian works to such degree that it was an introduction of C.S. Lewis's essays and books (mainly of an apologetic nature). After reading "The Chronicles of Narnia and Philosophy," I feel like adding more of Lewis's writings to my "to-read" shelf.

[Lynnette · Rating 2 out of 5]

not a huge fan of this book. some thoughts were insightful. many authors said the same things. but, I also have been reading through many of Lewis's apologetic works so these points were not new to me. I suppose if someone didn't know that much about Lewis's other writings this could be a very informative book.

[Abigail · Rating 3 out of 5]

Applying philosophy to C.S. Lewis is a little redundant but some of the essays had some really great points and some new ways to think about what Lewis was saying about our world through Narnia. Interesting read especially if you grew up reading the Chronicles.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wouldn't go as far to say that it was an amazing life changing book, but it really made me look at an old childhood favorite in a new way. Also, I got to learn more trivia about CS Lewis, which added more to my obsession with him and Tolkien. Yay!

[Kori · Rating 3 out of 5]

Helped me to better appreciate the many philosophical concepts within each of the books, many of which I had never even noticed!

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Made me think a little differently about some of the books, especially The Last Battle which was never a favorite of mine.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall solid essays. Fun to think with others about this grand series of stories.

[Brad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good read. I would recommend this book to anyone that likes philosophy and the chronicles of narnia

[Bonnie · Rating 2 out of 5]

One really good essay on the problem with portrayals of women in the series, several decent or mediocre essays, and a few duds. I'm ready to pass this book on to someone else.

[Saul Nonato · Rating 5 out of 5]

once i was seven years is great

[Tiffany · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first few (or many) essays in this book are pretty weak, mostly just summaries of the Narnia series with a few philosophy terms thrown in. And like another reviewer said, a lot of the essays circle back to religion and Christianity, so it was more like _The Chronicles of Narnia and Religion_, rather than The Chronicles of Narnia and Philosophy (and when I first had that thought, I got into this long conversation with myself about the difference between philosophy and religion, trying to make sure there IS a difference, since so many of the essays were coming back to religion and/or religion's influence on morals), in addition to the section of essays that are specifically about the books and religion. That's not to say the essays were *bad* (although there *were* some that made conclusions that I felt weren't well justified or reasoned, and one that seemed to Know that the author's God is The Only God), just that they were skimpy and not necessarily related to "and Philosophy."

About halfway through, though, there were essays that were directly related to philosophy, and some good ones, especially Karin Fry's look at gender in the series and Gareth Matthews' parallel between The Silver Chair and Plato's Cave.

Overall, though, this wasn't one of the better Pop Culture and Philosophy books.

[Rick · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of the better books which use philosophy to analyze literary work, in this case the collection of works by C.S. Lewis called the Chronicles of Narnia, the most famous of which is The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. A collection of scholars review the works by topic, ranging from the problem of evil to the nature of reality, and do it quite successfully. I was intrigued and challenged throughout the book.

[Jason Ruis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Portions were helpful and insightful. Others not so much. A lot of concept repetition.

[Hannah Craft · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a nice book, would be a bit boring of I hadn't watched the movie.

[The_J · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful postulates, about a deep and moving work. Reading the articles gives greater depth to the questions, whether you agreed with their theories or not.

[Marcia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was really helpful to my thesis and really insightful