Roald Dahl and Philosophy

Jacob M. Held is associate professor in the Department of Philosophy and Religion at the University of Central Arkansas. He is the editor of Dr. Seuss and Philosophy: Oh, the Thinks You Can Think! R&L 2011.

• AcknowledgementsIntroduction: Roald Dahl and Absurdity: Children’s Literature and the Divorce between the Mind that Desires and the World that DisappointsJacob M. Held1 Epicurus and the Chocolate FactoryBenjamin Rider2 On Getting Our Just Desserts: Willy Wonka, Immanuel Kant, and the Summum BonumJacob M. Held3 Matilda, Existentialist Super-HeroElizabeth Butterfield4 The Existential Journey of James Henry Trotter: Kierkegaard, Freedom, and Despair in James and the Giant PeachMatthew Bokma and Adam Barkman5 Of Mice and (Posthu)Man: Roald Dahl’s The Witches and Ethics Beyond HumanismTaine Duncan6 “Who is this Crazy Man?”: Willy Wonka’s Uneasy PredicamentCam Cobb7 “He will be altered quite a bit:” Discipline and Punishment in Willy Wonka’s FactoryMarc Napolitano8 Matilda and the Philosophy of Education, or What’s an Education For?John V. Karavitis9 Shattering the Glass Elevator: Authenticity and Social Order in the Works of Roald DahlJoseph J. Foy and Timothy M. Dale10 The Fantastically Just Mr. Fox: Property and Distributive Justice According to Foxes and other DiggersJacob M. Held11 Willy Wonka and the Imperial Chocolate FactoryRon Novy12 George’s Marvelous Medicine, or: What Should We Do About Global Hunger?Janelle Pötzsch13 Crodswoggle, Flushbunking, and All Things Friendship in the BFGChad Kleist14 Charlie and the Nightmare Factory: The Art of Children’s Horror FictionGreg Littman15 Brimful of Buzzburgers: A Human Bean’s Wild PossibilitiesMiranda Nell16 Dewey, Negative Capability, and the Wonder of Roald DahlTanya JeffcoatTwits, Witches, and Dirty Beasts: Author Bios

This book is a masterful look at Roald Dahl's enduring stories, and engages with the wisdom of the ages about dealing with great difficulty, making the best of where we are, and creating our own inner character as we stare into the abyss of challenge and uncertainty in the world. It will be sure to delight any fan of these popular and fantastical tales.