Daisy

Outline

Outline for SP-

Introduction:
1) 1st explain Fish’s idea of interpretation and specifically concentrate on the idea that people interpret certain events, ideas, and actions due to the rules and regulations of their society. After explaining this theory, I can go on to talk about how Rawling may not have intentionally written about the concept of Jewish suffering, but since Jewish suffering is embedded into the fabric of Judeo-Christian society, her concepts of suffering were unknowingly influenced by this.
2) Will talk about Plato’s Allegory of the Cave to explain the difference between the muggle and wizarding world that Harry lives in, but then I’ll also explain the idea of two spheres of God and human beings in Jewish history. While explaining the differences between the worlds, I’ll also talk a bit about the idea about different spheres of understanding, and perhaps reintroduce Fish’s interpretation ideas again.
3) Introduce Martin Buber, with a few lines about his background and then talk about the two types of dialogue available in the world.

4) Thesis: One of the most prevalent reasons that suffering occurs in HP and in Jewish history is in part due to the realization that the types of philosophies and dialogues that shaped several characters and people’s lives were inadequate to deal with the changes in their societies that resulted from death.
-The philosophies and dialogues about God, Dumbledore, and even Voldie are changing. Those who are perceived to be in power. Also the idea that there is a shift to finding comfort in knowledge not always in the unknown, but the things that are known like human beings.

Body:
-Story of Job
1) It will help in terms of talking about the failure of traditional religion (will introduce some philosophers who reject the idea of God think good=reward, God think bad=punish).
Then I’ll put in Job’s transformation and how he views God differently, and then talk more about Buber’s dialogue idea in more detail. (role of human beings/friends).
Also the idea of not truly understanding God and his actions, with the idea of Harry not always understanding Dumbledore’s actions but trusting in him anyway b/c he is of the light. (Staying at his aunt’s house, trusting Snape, keeping distance).

2) Holocaust/1st War of Voldie
- will have the different philosophers who view God’s distance from his creation.
- The free will of Voldie and the Nazis in a world where they turned away from what was good.
- Talk about Kushner and HP and how both see that perhaps #1) God or Dumbledore is not perfect. #2) God and Dumbledore are not always responsible for the evil that occurs in this world. #3) God and Dumbledore can make mistakes (Wiesel &Snape). #4) God and D may be able to suffer with us.

3) Mistreatment of those who aren’t of the wizard species and those who don’t fit the Aryan ideal.
-persecution that leads to suffering of these groups
-to get out of suffering, you need people to speak out on your behalf and to show their support.
-once subjugated to the suffering, the suffering individual must be willing to also help themselves.

Some Sections of HP and Philosophy

Harry Potter and Philosophy:
If Aristotle Ran Hogwarts

Chapter 5: Heaven, Hell, and Harry Potter: Jerry L. Walls

Naturalism- Reality is made up of matter, energy, & the laws of nature (66). Life evolved by chance, and God is non-existent. When you die, there is no such thing as an afterlife (67).
If we lived forever, we would use up the worlds already limited resources and we would contribute to the overpopulation of the world (68).

-If naturalism is the way of the world, then why do we believe in things like self-sacrifice (69). (Ron, his mother)
Or even living a life of honor )70).
-However, “what is moral is often the smart thing to do, and serves our happiness and well being in the short run as well as the long run” (70).
- Sometimes inconvenient to be moral (7).
- W/o a God, how do we get the moral principles of being honest, obeying the law, respecting one’s spouse (72).
- If we believe in a world w/a God, when we love him, we do the moral things that in turn take care of us (75). Love is greater than any evil.

Chapter 8: Kreacher’s Lament: S.P.E.W as a Parable on Discrimination, Indifference, Social Justice: Steven W. Patterson.
Definitions:
Discrimination (morally neutral) ability to tell things apart (106).
(moral sense): treatment of moral equals as moral inferiors.
-Kant believes its irrational to take away a persons freedom to make decisions based on their own will, and we shouldn’t take away people’s own interests so that they can serve others interest. Everyone deserves basic moral respect b/c human beings are rational and have a will of their own (107).
Rules that apply to humanity must be universal. Ex. Malfoy and Neville’s cauldron (108).
-What do we do about indifference to house elf suffering (110).
-“Since they have a will of their own and don’t want to be free, it is wrong of us to force them to be free against their will” The idea that the house elves don't want to be free is preposterous since it is well documented that many groups who are subjugated experience a type of loss of self-image, or believe there condition to be permanent. House elves need to overcome stereotypes that they have internalized. (111-112).
-Fighting for social justice is a way of maintaining security: Kreacher and Sirius (114-115). Neglect and indifference are more damaging than outright dislike.

Chapter 9: Is Ambition a Virtue? Why Slytherin Belongs at Hogwarts: Steven W. Patterson.
- A virtuous action is a sort of middle path, (Aristotle,) in which an action isn’t made w/overwhelming emotion in the face of losing reason, nor is a virtuous action made by solely reasoning and not acknowledging emotion (127).
- Ambition can be a virtue if we don’t allow us to rule us. Harry himself wants to avenge his parents by killing Voldermort. W/o ambitious people, historical events wouldn’t be able to happen. (128-129).

HP 6 Notes

Themes:

Not understanding Dumbledore:
-Dumbledore’s greatest weakness is believing the best in people (30-31).

-No one will believe him about Snape and everybody thinks that Snape is either spying for Dumbledore on Draco, but they all trust him b/c he has Dumbledore’s trust (333).

Snape Problem:
-Snape carried the news of the prophecy to Voldie, which resulted in Voldie killing Harry’ s family (545).
-Dumbledore pleading (595). & Snape kills him.
-Although Harry doesn’t see it, the fact that Snape doesn’t kill or Harry and doesn’t allow for Harry to get killed or hit by an Unforgivable seems to be part of a larger plan if not puzzling (603).
-Snape says “Don’t call me a coward,” b/c killing Dumbledore, against his wishes, was the hardest thing that Snape has had to do (604).
-Everybody’s blaming themselves for not suspecting Snape earlier (615-621).

Getting closer to Dumbledore b/c of communication and sympathy from Dumbledore:
- Kreacher is being misused and owned (51-52).
- Dumbledore tells the Dursleys about the awful job they’ve been doing with Harry (56).
- Dumbledore and Harry have a real conversation and not just one between a desk (59). Dumbledore asks Harry whether or not his scar hurts.
- Dumbledore and Harry are finally having a dialogue, and this one deals w/Sirius and the happenings of the Ministry. Harry also shows his strength in not fearing death, and by accepting the idea of living honorable (76-77).
- Dumbledore is re-doing everything he should have done by confiding and talking w/Harry, telling Harry to remain close to his friends, and also by giving Harry private lessons (78-79).
- Suffering b/c disappointed Dumbledore (428-430).
- Dumbledore is believing in him and allowing him to go on missions with him (507).
- Must force feed Dumbledore the unknown potion even though Dumbledore is pleading with him not to and asking him to stop (571-574).
- Dumbledore Dead (607-608).
-
Non-wizard species & prejudices:
-Most werewolves are on Voldie’s side since they think they will have a better life than under current Ministry rule where things like Remus not being able to get a job b/c of anti-werewolf legislation that was fostered by Dolores Umbridge in Book 5 (334-335).

-Other people getting the blame for Voldie’s actions like Morfin and Hokey b/c of prejudices (367-368). (438-439)

-Being Slytherin’s descendants seems to make everything all right for Mr. Gaunt, and makes him think that he’s better than everybody else b/c he’s a pureblood (206). They hate Muggles & Muggle lovers.

- Mr. Gaunt doesn’t want his daughter loving a Muggle (210).
- The fact that Fleur still wants to marry Bill, although he now has some qualities of a werewolve b/c of Greyback, and Tonks wants to be w/Remus is a sort of letting go of the prejudices (623-624).
- Merpeople(642-43). and cenataurs (644) come to Dumbledore’s funeral, and we also see that Dumbledore has always surrounded himself with more than just the wizard species w. the example of his teachers (giants, goblins, etc.)

Slytherin vs. Gryffindor:
-W/Horace Slughorn, perhaps Harry doesn’t like him so much, but he can also see that not all Slytherins are bad. Slughorn is a Slytherin with less of the pureblood prejudice. This is a Slytherin w/the ambition to be in touch with the right people, but it’s not necessarily evil. (70-74)
-“Gryffindor & Slytherin students loathed each on principle (143).
-Suffering b/c Malfoy is up to a plan and is becoming his obsession (328). (409).
- Harry is feeling some pity for Malfoy’s position (640).
-

The power of friends:
-Harry can keep on going, and he can have strength because his friends are on his side, even after telling them about the prophecy (99).
- Ron getting poisoned (397-398).
- After seeing the Dark Mark over Hogwarts, Harry feels guilty and thinks that if one of his friends die in the attack against the Deatheathers, then it will be his fault (583).

Suffering due to love & caring:
Harry isn’t protesting against the message of prophecy. He lives in a world of fate (98).
-People are dying and disappearing all over the place (105-106)

- Suffering b/c he likes Ginny (286). And knows that Ron wouldn’t approve (289). Also he’s not sure if he really likes her like that (291).

- Harry thinks that being able to love isn’t a big deal (509). (511).
- Suffering b/c he thinks that his mission to kill Voldie prevents him from having a relationship w/Ginny (646-647).

Voldie: -
-Suffering due to Horcruxes, which make Voldie near impossible to kill (500-503)

Ministry using Harry:
-Ministry is trying to use him in order to raise the moral of people (344-347) Scrimgeour. Also see Harry’s loyalty to Dumbledore and to truth (347-348).
-People only want to know Harry because of his title and his deeds and not actually his person (75).

When Bad Things Happen to Good People: Harold S. Kushner

Background Info: Man is a rabbin in Natick. When he was young rabbi, he was told that his son had a strange condition called progeria, which is a type of rapid aging. The young rabbi and his wife were told many horrible things about their son, but nothing could compare with the fact that their son would die in his teens. Their son, Aaron, did die after his fourteenth birthday, and Rabbi Kushner wrote this story to tell people how he can still believe in God, but also make sense of the evil and suffering that occurs in this world.

Ch.1- Why do the righteous suffer?
- In all scriptures, God says that the righteous will prosper, or that the righteous shall catch up to the living. Through several anecdotes about different peoples lives, Rabbi Kushner finds that people suffer because they follow the traditional idea that if bad things happen to me or to people I know, than perhaps I have done something wrong. Another lament is, "Have I done something so horrendously wrong, that I must repay in sickness, death, etc. Other possible explanations like; "God is trying to make us change our behavior, (33), or "God is giving us tests to measure our loyalty(35-36). don't work because we don't even know what we could have possibly done wrong. We don't have such a personal relationship w/God that we have w/each other that allows us to talk and ask questions of God and to have him respond to us. The biggest problem is that these explanations comfort God, but not the victim. He sums up with:
*We think that God is the cause of our sufferings, and maybe he actually isn't (42).

Ch.2- The Story of a Man named Job.
- When bad things happen to us, it is easier for our friends to stop believing in our own Goodness, our own innocence than to question the perfection of God (53).
-"We see this psychology at work elsewhere, blaming the victim so that evil doesn't seem quite so irrational and threatening"(54).
-If we believe that God is not punishing us, then we can turn to God to give us strength and to give us courage(61). * God does not control all things.

Ch.3- Sometimes There is No Reason.
-Things happen for no apparant reason, not because God is angry or punishing us. Example of the army veteran, but the people on the street (64-65).
-Did God create a world, and he is present in it? (74).
-Or did God create a world, and left us to take care of it, although he still feels anger and is saddened when bad things happen to his people (75).

Ch. 4- No Exceptions for Nice People.
- God gave us a world that follows/obeys an exact law of nature like gravity, and nice people aren't an exception. In the past, people thought that God showed himself by breaking the laws of nature (76-77).
Nice people are not immune to the laws of nature like an earthquake, a tornado, etc (81).
New Question: Why do we have to suffer in general?
"Pain is nature's way of telling us that we are overexerting ourselves, that some part of our body is not functioning as it ws meant to, or is being asked to do more than it was intended to (physical 84).
- We give meaning to our pain (86). Let's give it the right meaning since we cannot control whether or not we suffer.
- What a suffering person needs is not a science lesson or the fact that their condition follows the laws of nature. Instead, we need to show compassion, empathy, etc, so that person will have the strength to go on and give their suffering meaning.
- Death is inevitable, and better to be dead than to be immortal (93-96).

Ch 5- God leaves us room to be human.
-Animals don't have moral thoughts or decisions of Good and evil. Our lives are different than animals in terms of giving birth, finding food, having sex, and the idea of mortality are sometimes difficult for animals but not on grounds of morality.
-Being human means to have free will and not to live by instinct like many animals do (106). God is allowing us to be free to choose between good and evil.
- God has decided that he will not intervene in our freedom (109).
-W/Hitler, R.Kushner gets into the idea about whether or not Hitler chose to be evil or whether his background of parents, schooling, etc. made him evil. (111-112).
-Hitler was an evil genius, but his distructiveness happened through the help of many people that did something bad or did nothing (113).

Ch 6- God helps those who stop hurting themselves.
- We need to be sympathic to those who need us and not just spout theology like Job's friends. But, at least Job's friends did come and they did listen (121-122).
- We feel guilt b/c we think that all things have connections and all things have patterns(124).
And also b/c we think that we are the cause of all bad things (124). Our egos are vulnerable and it is easy to make us feel like we are bad people.
- When we're angry, we turn that anger on other people (142).

Ch. 7- God can't do everything but he can do some important things
- We need to change the idea of what it means to pray, and what it means to have our prayers answered (155).
-Miracles do happen but that doesn't mean because you prayed hard enough, or you don't get a miracle b/c you didn't pray hard enough (157).
- We cannot pray to God to do harm to others. (158).
-We cannot pray to God to do the things which he has already given us the tools to do (158-159).
-In past, prayer was used to bring people in touch w/other people who can feel or share the same pain or experience (160-162).
-God does not answer the prayer that goes against the laws of nature or puts claims and conditions on God's love. Instead, real prayer asks God to help us do what we must do (167). He gives us the strength to go on when we no longer have any.

Ch-8- What Good then is religion?
- If R.Kushner could get his son back, he would trade it back in a heartbeat for the exchange that he got in becoming a more effective, sensitive, and sympathetic pastor. But since he cannot choose, he can make the best out of his condition (179).
- "He is limited in what He can do by laws of nature and by the evolution of human nature and human moral freedom" (180)
- Does suffering have meaning b/c if there were meaning, than we could bear almost under any suffering (182). R. Kushner says that no suffering at all has any explicit meaning unless we give an effort to give it meaning.
- When bad things happen to us, we must see how we can move on or how we deal with this suffering, but not why it happened in the first place (183-184).
-" If suffering and death in someone close to us to explore the limits of our capacity to discover sources of consolation we never knew before, then we make the person into a witness for the affirmation of life rather than its rejection" (185).
-God inspires people to help, to care (184-185). "human-beings are God's language (188).

HP 5 Notes

Book 5 is where we see all of Harry’s anger and hurt pour into this novel. The fact that he can still love and care for those around him so much is simply amazing and is a testament to both Harry’s struggle and the struggle of the Jews through hardship.
We also see a great split between those on the Light side as people have to pick sides between Ministry ideology and Dumbledore’s ideology.
We see the death of Harry’s godfather, Sirius, at the moment that he was beginning to know his godfather the best. Harry also experiences death indirectly through the murders of people who have been murdered either in service to the light or to the dark.

I've broken up the notes into several themes:

Death:
- Dead parents (178).
- Different views about his father than he originally believed (653).
-Sirius dies.

Feelings of Entrapment:
-Harry's frustrated because he has no news about Voldie and he feels trapped and forgotten in the muggle world with his aunt’s family.(8-9).

Prejudices of species other than wizard:
-Many people agreed with Voldie until he revealed his extreme plans for mass annihilation of all the Muggleborns (112).
- Harry goes into the Ministry of magic and sees the fountain of a goblin, houself and a centaur gazing lovingly at a wizard who has a witch by his side. (127).
-On closer inspection, Harry says that the wizard looks silly and weak and the looks of adoration only look convincing on the houself (156).
-Discussion between Hermione & Ron about whether or not house elves want to be free (255).
-Umbridge hates half-humans (302-303). Prejudice against some of the most loyal and talented of Dumbledore’s staff including Hagrid and Firenze.
- Dumbledore attempting to negotiate w/giants through Hagrid (423).
-Harry helping Hagrid w/ Grawp (702).
-Umbridge insulting centaurs (754-755).
-In the fight at the Ministry, all the animals, not just the humans help Harry and Dumbledore (813).
-Dumbledore says that the destruction of Kreacher resulted by the mishandling of humans.

Dumbledore's Distance: (Like God’s distance from the Jews).
-Dumbledore doesn’t want to give him all the facts (87).
-D. argues for Harry in the courtroom, but he doesn’t make eye contact w/ Harry & neither does he speak w/ him (142-152).
- “I wish he’d talked to me, though. Or even looked at me.” (157) This is after the courtroom scene at 12 Grimmauld Place.
-Harry believes that he and D are in this battle against Voldie together since they both know that he’s risen again, but he wonders why D won’t approach him. (220).
-Not understanding why Snape trusts God, or why D gives certain instructions. (235-496).
-Harry won’t go to D for help b/c of distance (273, 277, 382).
-D. not telling Harry about prophecy made him search, and especially not stressing the importance of Occumelency (786).
-D. admits that he needs to be more open w/Harry about issues that involve Harry (826).
-D. says that his distance was for Harry’s protection (828).

Guilty Conscience/Saving Complex=Suffering:
-Nightmares about Cedric (15-16).
-Sirius Dies

Interhouse Cooperation:
-The sorting hat changes its usual routine and espouses for innerhouse cooperation, but Harry says that if it means he needs to get close to the Slytherins than he is against it (204-209).
-w/the D.A b/c the students are from different classes. And perhaps also to state that power and duty come not from authority but from the masses from the students (347).

Holocaust Suffering with Elie and Evil and Suffering w/ Lamentations

1) Holocaust: Evil and Suffering
2) Elie Wiesel Trilogy Notes
3) Lamentations

1)
The varied views about God from several scholars when considering the Holocaust.
-Most scholars agree that the Holocaust demonstrated God’s distance not just from a portion of the Jewish population, but also to the entire Jewish population, even as it was about to be annihilated and destroyed forever. (201-202).
-Most scholars also agree that need a new theology if going to analyze the Holocaust.

a) Rubenstein: Simplistic view of God (bad-punishment, good-reward). So Holocaust makes him lose his faith in God. However, Jews can still practice Judaism without God and w/o having a special relationship with him (187).

b) Fackenheim: Holocaust God’s will, but not in order to punish sins, but important mainly because of the absence of explanation and interpretation. Jew must still survive w/their faith b/c if not, Hitler wins & we dishonor the memory of those who died in the concentration camps. (188-189). {Muscular Judaism}
- sufferings of Holocaust to reaffirm God’s connection w/Earth (189).
- Holocaust means we reject a God who intervenes in world & must defend self (Zionism). (189).

c) Cohen: “to suggest that God could have prevented such events is to prevent us
Prevent us from exercising our freedom (190).
-God provides moral instructions but we can choose whether or not we want to ignore them (190).

d) Berkovits: “He has to be sufficiently absent to allow us to make our own decisions, and yet he has to be present on enough occasions to inform us of his plans for the world (191).

e) Maybaum: Jews must bring Gentiles to God & this is done through the disasters
they suffer.

f) Wiesel: Believes that we must act as if God existed, so that humanity can live in a practical, civilized, and moral manner. (211).
-If we keep trying to find a response from God, we act practically w/ good behavior. But if we stop acting w/good behavior, once we stop trying to get a response from God (212).
-Could God give us a response that would justify us about why he allowed for the Destruction of Jewry. (213).

Q: Where is God, and does he suffer with us (195)?

a) Counselor only if they are detached and can provide clean and useful advice (197).
b) “God is in a position at anytime to bring an end to our suffering, and we should be entitled to expect more than just comfort from him (197).
c) Our relationship with god is distant b/c he doesn’t answer our prayer or help us in a disaster, or save us from evil unless he wanted to change the relationship that we have with God.

Comments:
a) Some say Holocaust brought back the State of Israel (202).
b) Although a Jews idea of God may change, he still needs Judaism (203).
c) A benevolent God, who still lets bad things happen, like the Holocaust, is unacceptable unless God does not participate in history (205).
d) Judaism’s history suggests an optimistic religion (213).
e) When God allows the innocent to suffer, Wiesel and Job are acknowledging that God exists, but they also acknowledge that the relationship that we have w/God is different than the relationship we have w/each other. (214).
f) Holocaust- end to the entity of Jews (219).

2)
Night:
a) We initiate dialogue w/God by asking questions & he answers, but we don’t always understand the answers (15).

b) Jews suffered b/c they did not want to believe the almost impossible (16-17)

c) Suffer by dehumanizing your enemy.

P.26 “cringing like beaten dogs”
P. 28 “lazy swine”
P. 31 ‘cattle wagons”

d) suffer by hurting family members, Elie’s father gets beaten to death, Elie gets 25
strokes.
E) suffering due to physical hardships.

Dawn:
a) Where is God to be found? In suffering or rebellion (132).
b) Suffer b/c oppressed by the English.
c) Killing anyone, in this story, an English solider representing the English enemy.
d) Suffering b/c those we love are dying (140).
e) Suffering b/c we are lost so others can lead the way by taking advantage of us (143).
f) Fear of becoming what you once hated (146).
g) We escape suffering by luck or personal connections (155).
h) Ones actions reflect ones critical past (167).
i) * sometimes, it is more tortuous to be alive than to be dead.(246).
j) suffering due to unexpected events.

Accident:
* Most of this story centers around the same ideal, but concentrates more heavily on
the different aspects of death.

4) Lamentations;
a. The three chapters that I read dealt most with the idea of how Lamentations is presented, its structure, and the idea that suffering does exist.
b. Death within life & life beyond death (35).
c. Lamentations chapters 1&2 are funeral dirges (probably for a nation,) but not in pure form due to individual lament, the absence of certain qualities such as ridiculing the lack of God’s presence, the fact that there is no actual death since Zion exists and survives.
d. *Idea of persuasion & how Jews can’t just present their suffering but they need to give voice through testimony and witnesses so that we can eliminate the role of the spectator (49).

I & Thou Martin Buber

This book had a lot of ideas that were already expressed in Buber's Section in Evil and Suffering. However here are some new notes.

-Three types of relationship w/ nature, man and spiritual beings (6-7).
-once something becomes bound by something else then the first thing is no longer it, by in relation w/something (8).
-I & Thou relationship eventually shifts to I and It, but can shift back (8).
-Man wants to possess God, own him (13).

Allegory and Buber

1) Plato: The Allegory of the Cave

2) Buber in “Evil and Suffering”

1a) The importance of the Allegory of the Cave and the project is seen in something we already talked about in a difference between the Muggle and the Wizarding World. The cave can be seen as the Muggle World and the light or the true enlightment is seen in the Wizarding World. Harry is raised for 11 years in the Muggle world without any inkling that magic exists, although he does make weird things happen sometimes. Yet when he gets to the Wizarding World for the first time, he can’t believe his eyes. Although he finds the Wizarding World cool, he still finds a comfort in the Muggle World, and this is seen through his constant comparison and “Muggle references,” in the first book. Harry is also very amazed throughout the entire first book at his newly found knowledge of magic, but his amazement disappears and is replaced with either respect or fear through the later books as he attempts to master spells and avoid dark magic. (Occumen...and Legilimens). However, it is clear that throughout many of the books a certain degree of disdain permeates throughout the summers that Harry must stay at his Aunt and Uncle’s house. In the first book, Harry doesn’t really like his relatives, but he doesn’t rebel or intentionally show signs of discontent in their house because he lives in a realm of ignorance, and he believes that this is the only life that he will ever have. But with the discovery of the Wizarding World, with Harry’s enlightment about the true details of his background, the Dark Lord, Hogwarts, etc, Harry dreads lowering himself back into the dungeons of the epitome of ignorance in the Muggle World. However, it would be erroneous to say that Harry disdains the Muggle World entirely because he did grow up in this environment, and he doesn’t have any sort of prejudices towards Muggleborns since he was raised as one himself.

Harry is very much what Plato imagines the future Philosopher-Kings to be. Harry may not be able to follow all the rules of morality that Plato envisions for his Philosopher-Kings, but he does embody the idea of having lived in both realms of “ignorance,” and “enlightment.” The multiple experiences of living in these two realms gives Harry a better experience on life. In the Wizarding World, there are too many people like the Malfoys that carry around a type of pride because they were already born into the enlightment stage. They also carry many prejudices about Muggleborns, but as Ron points out in book 2, without Muggles, the Wizarding World would not be able to exist because all Wizards would eventually die out. Although many wizards believe themselves to be apart and even of a better species then Muggles, they still must cater to the “ignorance,” of the Muggle world in Book 4 with the Quidditch World Cup, and in Book 6 with the cooperation of the British Government. In the Allegory of the Cave, Plato writes about how those in the Wizarding World “enlightment,” are able to use their wisdom for evil, which will be described a little bit below.

There are some differences between HP and the Allegory of the Cave. In HP, people are born with magic or they are not. In the Allegory, even if born in ignorance, everyone has the facilities to reach enlightment. Because HP works in that manner, it is easier for ideas of enlightment superiority to exist and gain support. Also in the Allegory, the cave is not only an ignorance of wisdom, but it is a place that you would not like to stay in forever. Although in HP, it is understandable that the Muggles would want to stay in the Muggle world because they know of no other, and a Muggleborn would find it hard to return to the Muggle world for good, it is wrong to think that a Muggleborn couldn’t be perfectly happy living in this “ignorant world.” To reach the enlightened world means added responsibility that people may not want to have. To take Harry as an example, what will he do when the Wizarding World no longer needs him? Once he defeats Tom Riddle, what will his purpose be? Once he fulfills his task, perhaps he would like to return to a simpler realm or a realm that has a different kind of wisdom.

1b) Difference between Dark Magic and Light Magic

The book often distinguishes between the evil Dark Magic (Dark Side) and the good Light Magic (Light Side). Even within the different school houses, Slytherins are supposed to portray signs of Dark Magic because of a bad apple in their house and the qualities of stealth and ambition that is attributed to the house. Gryffindors on the other hand, are supposed to uphold the virtues of good because of the bravery and courage that goes with this house. Rawling does a good job of showing that stereotypes and labels don’t work out perfectly, by showing that Tom Riddle’s right hand man was Peter, a Gryfindor who out of his own ambition betrayed the loyalty of his so called “friends.” We can go into a long discussion about the actual basis of the relationship in the Buber examination. Snape, a Slytherin, does commit to the Dark Lord, but then turns spy for the Light Side. Although it seems as if Snape has turned traitor in the last book, we can not be completely sure of his supposed treachery, and the last book may show that Snape was truly the most loyal of Dumbledore’s supporters.

In terms of the Allegory, we can see that once people reach enlightment, they can turn to Dark Magic or Light Magic. Plato would probably argue that the Philosopher-Kings would be followers of Light Magic, but that is of course thinking in theory.

Light Magic and Dark Magic are simply terms that are very interchangeable. A light magic spell like Wingardium Leviosa can be considered dark if used differently. Using the spell on a feather is much different than using the spell to “play,” with an innocent group of Muggles in Book 4. Dark Magic like one of the Unforgivables shown in Book 4 could be used to kill a person, but what if Harry must use the curse to kill Tom Riddle or even worse, to end a person’s pain (euthanasia). We cannot even say that it depends on what the means behind using each spell was since there are different philosophies between those who adhere for both the Dark and the Light side. Therefore, in the Allegory, can we truly distinguish between good and bad knowledge? In the Allegory, Plato says that good rulers must be able to experience and adhere for both the ignorant and the enlightened that use their wisdom for good. In HP, if Harry wants to be a good ruler he must become a leader that is against anyone extreme. Although in Book 6, he tells Scrimegour that he is Dumbledore’s man, he cannot win the war in this manner. As seen with Stanley Fish,” the best way to interpret is to get rid of both extremes of interpretation and to make a middle ground. Although it is understandable that Harry wants nothing to do with the corrupt ministry he can serve as the bridge of the gap between the two extremes of light and dark since too many people suffer with only those two alternatives to choose. If Harry chooses this middle ground, he can gain support of many different types of people who are looking for that middle ground and alternative. Harry is already experimenting a little bit with Dark Magic in the fifth and sixth books, and Harry starts the D.A club, which allows for a mixing of the different houses which cause more separation than is necessary. Yet, if Harry does not act as the negotiator for the Slytherins, they will turn out many Death Eaters and Death Eater supporters because they have no other alternative and they are expected to turn Dark from the moment the hat shouts Slytherin in their head. Ambition and stealth can be helpful as bravery and loyalty can also be harmful. The Wizarding World, like most worlds, likes to make things so cut and dry, but since Harry accepts his role in the prophecy, he needs to break down as many barriers as possible.

2) Relationships:

a) I & It- either using other person or objective detachment (166).

b) I and Thou- relationship of mutuality, not abstract. When engage in conversation or dialogue, makes the relationship meaningful (166). God relationship with humans

a) This reminds me of the relationship between Snape and Dumbledore and the relationship of Harry with Dumbledore. In the 1st, Dumbledore did forgive Snape for going to the Dark Side, and also defends Snape when others question Dumbledore’s trust in Snape. Yet Dumbledore always makes stipulations on those who come under his wing. Snape has to spy for Dumbledore and teach potions. Dumbledore said that he loved Harry so much in the fifth book that he couldn’t tell Harry about the prophecy. Harry’s early living condition reminds me of the book “The Chosen,” and the relationship between the tzaddik and Danny Saunders. (Sirius Black). Withholding info that causes more pain in the end. In war, ignorance is not bliss. Should be consistent in war.

-Also seen with Wizarding World and Harry.

b) Seen with Harry and his two best friends, more Hermione. (Ron wavers when issues are too close to home like money and Harry’s unasked popularity. Harry and the Weasleys.

c) Main points of Buber’s concerning evil.

-Evil is turning away from the power that God gives to human beings to do evil (loss of direction,) & good is turning towards God. (168).

-Guilty to avoid a dialogue w/God, people, world. Must acknowledge evil within ourselves=mature conscience (168).

-Escape chaotic realm of evil by pursuing proper relations w/others and w/ourselves (169).

Two ways to become evil.

-inauthentic actions and intentions but not purposefully.

-purposely acts in wrong way. (169).

- “Evil exists because we are able to experience and use our imagination to develop possible courses of action which take account of no other interest than those we have in acting” (169).

-”Sin arises from lack of direction and confusion while wickedness arises when our actions cement a character, which is disposed to go in wrong direction” (169).

-Wicked are at the mercy of their passions, and can measure our death by the way we live our life (174).

-Avoid evil with right motives and attitudes (171).

d) God attributes and commentary:

-We can not hope to say that by understanding God’s actions that we understand his qualities. (174-175).

-God won’t sort out our problems; we must sort out our own problems (180).

-If God didn’t want to communicate then he wouldn’t create (180).

-When God says, “I am who I am” talking about how God is present always. (176).

e) Human being behavior commentary:

-Conversation is really just people trying to either impress, dominate, or apply pressure in different situations (169-70)

-Salvation lies in dialogue of God but a complete transformation on our own part and when we meet God it is probably unpredictable and puzzling. (170)

-Our imagination distracts us from organizing our true lives (173).

-“We are who we are b/c of the necessity of taking the risk of working out for ourselves how we should behave and what is there to support our decisions” (182).

Philo and Maimonides

1) Philo Notes from "Evil and Suffering"
2) Maimonides Notes from "Evil and Suffering"

1) Philo was a Hellenized Alexandrian citizen (25 B.C.E-50 C.E) He was deeply influenced by Greek Culture and Stoicism (33)
a) God's attributes are different than human's attributes.
b) God is not responsible for evil or preventing evil b/c God's relationsip with world is different from human relationships.
c) Believes that the ominipotent God is allpowerful, but he is exempt from imperfection or evil. Although sometimes Philo says that the evil in world is associated with repentenance, Evil usually exists because of the lesser beings in the world. (35 and 36)
d) Imperfect world because of the materials that God had to use.
e) Believes that the words of the Torah, each one, is divine but says that the words of God must be taken allegorically instead of literally especially when there is badmouthing of God, repetition, etc.
f) Human beings have free will
g) Should act good for our own desires and not just to escape punishment and physical well-being (38)
h) Due to Stoic influence, Philo interprets certain works in the Bible in an allegorical sense-(conveying something that has a meaning that is different from a literal meaning).

2) Maimonides
a) born in Cordoba (1135); died in Egypt (1204) (64).
b) Influenced, as many Jews were by their Muslim counterparts (65).
c) Influenced by Spanish culture (66).
-look at texts in in new and original way w/o respect to previous commentators
-emphasis on scientific basis
-natural science: reason and experiment
-ordinary believers vs. sophisticated believers (67-68).
d)Evil arises from our material composition (matter) how always a deficiency in material (70).
-Evil from political events like war and ill-government (70).
-Evil from greedy (material possesion and high reputation,) and inappropriate attitudes to the world and its resources (70).
e) Subjection of the intellect by imagination. (72).
f) Maimonides w/Aristolean thought- Some human beings key into higher levels of abstract thinking (72)
g) Providence watches over abtract thinkers, allowing those who die with abstract thoughts to retain thoughts, but not as own. Non-abstract thinkers lose all things (74).
h) B/C Job is a simple thinker, he believes that good things. happiness arise from physical evidences of health, wealth and children (74-75).
-Job's simplemindness makes him believe that God influences everything in his life while an intelligent person understands taht these are simply natural events, independant of God's control. (75)
i) Maimonides believes that if we believe that God is all powerful, we will often be disappointed because sometimes the wicked do prosper (76).
j) Evil exists not through any fault of God but b/c of the discrepancy of matter which God had to deal with when he created the Earth. In order to rise above evil, we must improve our intellectual ability. (78-79).
k) Freedom of choice for Maimonides (influenced by Rabbi Akiva) is not so much the freedom to act since God forsees everything, but the freedom to choose the way in which we think (82-83).
l) God may seem indirect to us, but it is not God's job to reach out to us, but vice-versa. If we want God to pay attention to us, we must get closer to perfection and closer to divinity through abstract thinking. (83).
m) The prophets were not only "able to achieve a high level of intellectual awareness of God through contemplation but also to participate widely in political an dsocial life to the extent of forming and strengthening the religious community" (85).
n) Our relationship with God shouldn't be viewed as solely, I am bad, God punishes me, I am good, God rewards me b/c then a person believes in God to escape from punishment. To free oneself from this mentality allows the intellegent thinker to love God simply b/c he is God and not for any further gains.
o) You can reach the highest stage under providence, but that doesn't mean that all our social and physical problems go away. Instead one comes to understand that those things are meaningless and intellect is powerful.
p) "The difficulty with Aristotelianism, though, is that it is not always easy to show that the Aristotelian solution to a problem is the only rational solution"(95) Not just by observation, but also by a higher authority. Must prove they are the only moral answer.
- God provides us with the logistics of a particular kind of world, and if "we observe the working of that world, we can discover, to a degree, how it incorporates a system of fairness and justice to all in it" (96).
q) "Maimonides places the emphasis very firmly on us to sort out the evil in the world. There is no point in expecting external intervention to rescue us from our plight (99).

Job Notes

1) The book of Job in Old Testament
2) Job in "Evil and Suffering in Jewish philosophy

I read and took notes on #2, and I skimmed certain parts of #1.
2) Notes:
-Relationship with God is more than just a reward and punishment system
-The point is not that God gives a bad/unsatisfying answer (I am more powerful and more divine than you) , but the important part is that God actually reveals himself to Job and speaks/responds/says something to Job.
Job understands that he needs to alter his question to not simply; Why do apparently innocent people suffer but Job questions the relationship between God and his people.
- Either God controls the world unjustly, or he doesn't control it at all.
- Difference between divine and world knowledge (23)
- The Friends Pt. of View: "Even though no one has seen evidence of Job's guilt, he must be guilty because he suffers" (24). traditonal religious point of view.
The Friends also point out that suffering can bring a person closer to God, their is mystery that is implicit in God's actions, and their is ubiquity of sin (24).
- There is innocent suffering and no apparent justification for it. (24).
-God must submit to the same moral rules as his creation (25).
-"What is remarkable about Job is that he is prepared both to accept the greatness of God and at the same time to demand a response from God to the apparent injustices in the world" (24).
-"Yet Job asserts both that God is the author of all that happens, and that he is clearly then the creator of much injustice" (25).
- Friends punished for misinterpreting God's justice (27).
Not criticial of traditional religious explanations (28).
Some interpret his actions as a saint, while other concentrate on his rebel aspects (28-29). Both Christians and Jews debate and form there opinions about this.

What need to explore later:
- Is it enough for God simply to speak/reveal himself, and not to provide sufferers with an acceptable answer?
- Although Job took it to the next level and he asked about the relationship between God and his creation, is there an answer to the suffering of innocents? And does God know the answer? Did he not tell Job the answer because he was afraid of the consequences of reveiling this grain of truth?
- If Job is correct and God is the instrument behind everything, even injustice, then what is the point of injustice? Since God verbally attacked Job's friends when they incorrectly tried to explain why Job suffered, then can we also dismiss their claims that suffering allows us to be closer to God?
- Why does God approve somewhat of Job's questioning, yet he cannot provide Job with an answer?
- Since God gave Job material possesions at the end to reward him, is God suggesting that he will reward us materially in this life if we are good and stay devoted to God although we may question his intentions every now and then?

In Connection to Harry Potter:
For later date: Explore what written above with the relationship of Harry Potter and Sirius Black with Albus Dumbledore and the Dark Lord.

Monday WL

1) "How to Recognize a Poem When You See One" Article.
2) Introduction to "Evil and Suffering in Jewish History"

1) The article talked about how we indentify certain subjects as poems or literatry criticisms because someone assumes and identifies the work as a poem or a lit crit. Fish says that people don't usually challenge the assumption and they interpret poems or lit crits in a certain way that is goverened by rules that are influenced by our society. An example that Fish gives is a classroom in a university where everyone knows that a person who raises their hand in the class wants to share an idea or add an opinion. Fish states that a raised hand could mean that you wanted to go to the bathroom if you were in an elementary school. If an individual was not familiar with the rules of the university, than Fish believes that an outsider might think that the person was batting away a fly. But even with an outsider's difference in an opinion, an opposing idea emerges because they are following the rules and conceptions of a different society. Many times, we agree with a certain interpretation because we are following the same guidelines and so we are able to either come up with the same conclusions or understand the conclusions of another.
I had some trouble understanding some of the last part of the article, so I will read it over before Thursday and write some more notes down.

2) The introduction basically talks about the similarities and the differences between philosophy and religion. It starts off by stating some reasons of making a book that concentrates on Jewish Evil and Suffering when evil and suffering is a universal concept with all people in their different beliefs of faith. The intro also talked a lot about Job and how Job was able to accept God's answer, not because he saw a difference in power between himself and God, but because he understood that God is shrouded in mystery and therefore, there is a wide chasm between Job's point of view and God's point of view. Job understands that he must alter his question to not ask; Why do the innocent suffer, but instead; What is God's relationship to his creation and to build off of this point. On the last page of the intro, the author says that Job must be willing to "reconcile his understanding of the world with his understanding of himself." "Acceptance of divine providence is only meaningful in a religious sense if it can be made part of the living experience of the individual who accepts it." (17). Leaman makes a good point in understanding that if Job cannot understand or reconcile evil in a religious sense with his own life, then suffering will ultimately occur.