The Wizard of Oz and Philosophy

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ISBN 978-0-8126-9657-8

~~$18.95~~ $13.27
paper

288 pages

(Fall 08)

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The Wizard of Oz and Philosophy

Edited by Randall E. Auxier and Phil Seng

Popular Culture and Philosophy series

Have you ever felt you weren't in Kansas anymore? Most philosophers, and almost anyone with an imagination, spend at least as much time exploring Oz as negotiating the black and white world of every day life. Three generations of children learned about Oz as a bedtime story, from the fourteen books written by L. Frank Baum. Those books came to life first as a play and then in a series of Hollywood movies, reaching an apex in the 1939 classic, which then delighted several more generations. The characters, places, songs, and about half the script itself have become as pervasive in our culture as anything Shakespeare ever penned. You know what it means to pay no attention to the man behind the curtain, and how the lions, and tigers, and bears combine for comic effect. You know that the Yellow Brick Road goes through the Haunted Forest, and you know what to sing when any wicked witch is dead. And you know there's no place like home. But how much have you really thought about all this?

Philosophers think too much. That is their job (and it's good work if you can get it). Our contributors to this volume have certainly indulged themselves. What of the “missing virtues” of courage, heart and intelligence that the motley three believe they lack? Can someone possess a virtue without knowing it? And why did Glinda of the North say to Dorothy that she had the power to go home all along, but she wouldn’t have believed it until she learned it for herself. Doesn't it seem that Dorothy would believe almost anything? And what about this: Was Oz a dream, or was Kansas the dream? Why does water melt a witch? Would it be morally forbidden to test the hypothesis by putting just a drop of water on Glinda, for the sake of science? Doesn't the Wicked Witch of the West realize that the ruby slippers look far better on Dorothy? And what about Toto? Why does he always seem to know what the others can't figure out? When we die, do we go to Oz? These essays ask and answer these questions and many more. Just tap your heels together and open the cover.