The Hogwarts Sorting Hat has been said to place kids based on qualities they value rather than those they exhibit — still, each of the school’s Houses does tend to collect a certain kind of student. Gryffindors are often brave and daring; Ravenclaws brainy and witty; Slytherins ambitious and cunning; and Hufflepuffs patient and loyal. It stands to reason, therefore, that each house would appreciate its own collection of reading material — but what actual books might a Gryffindor read? How would they compare to the reading list of a Slytherin?
It was while perusing acclaimed HP fanfic Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality that Jesse Galef (half of the brother/sister duo behind Measure of Doubt — a fantastic blog dedicated to rationality, science and philosophy) got to thinking about this exact question; what might a rational student from each house actually read? He writes:
I realized that there’s actually quite a lot of potential for interesting reading in each house. Ravenclaws would be interested in philosophy of mind, cognitive science, and mathematics; Gryffindors in combat, ethics, and democracy; Slytherins in persuasion, rhetoric, and political machination; and Hufflepuffs in productivity, happiness, and the game theory of cooperation.
After much brainstorming, Galef produced four incredibly well-thought-out reading lists (one for each house), photographed their physical counterparts on a bookshelf, and even created a series of Facebook cover images, “so that you can display your pride both in rationality and in your chosen house.” Here’s the cover image for Gryffindor (click to enlarge), followed by its corresponding booklist. For the other houses’ lists, go check out Measure of Doubt.
List:
A Game of Thrones
The Guns of August
Herodotus – The Histories
The Landmark Thucydides
The Western Way of War
The Art of War
The Killer Angels
Meditations
The Strategy of Conflict
Arms and Influence
The Problematics of Moral and Legal Theory
The Future of Freedom
Politics
The Republic
The Great Political Theories v.1
The Great Political Theories v.2
On the Social Contract
Profiles in Courage
The Law of Peoples
Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality ch. 1—17
Rights, Liberties, and Justice
Utilitarianism, On Liberty, Considerations on Representative Government
Political Theologies
Classics of Moral and Political Theory
Nicomachean Ethics
Justice
What Money Can’t Buy
The Life You Can Save
Animal Liberation
The Righteous Mind
Good Without God
Forbidden Fruit
