From: jchokey@leland.Stanford.EDU (James Alexander Chokey)
Subject: Re: Technology and Morality in LOTR
Organization: DSG, Stanford University, CA 94305, USA
Date: Tue, 15 Dec 92 07:50:04 GMT

In article <672@blue.cis.pitt.edu> genetic+@pitt.edu (Dr. Dave) writes:
>
>The distinction between 'techne' in the Greek sense and 'technology' in the
>modern English sense is a useful one here.  Clearly, Tolkien had nothing but
>respect for the "unimaginable mind of Faenor" (misquoted here by me; sorry),
>or for the building skills of the Elvensmiths and Dwarf artisans of the second
>age, or even the lesser accomplishments of the Rohirrim at Dunharrow and
>Meduseld or the Hobbits in their snug holes.  There's nothing inherently bad
>in engineering know-how anywhere in the books.

	No, there's nothing _inherently_ bad about it--  but there sure is
a _lot_ that's contingently bad.  None of these Elvish and Dwarvish crafts of
past times are entirely unproblematic.  The argument has been made before
that the Silmarils are the locus of a great deal of trouble in the Sil-
marillion, that the palantiri have a quite sinister status in LOTR, and 
that the Dwarvish diggings in Moria led to the awakening and release of the
Balrog.  None of these objects of craft (or the crafts themselves) are 
inherently evil, but neither are they unambiguously good.  And in the
text of LOTR and Silmarillion, I would contend, the more problematic aspects
of these works of craft are the ones that stand out.


>The point, I think, is purpose.  Technology put to evil purposes is an easy
>and obvious target, but more than that I think Tolkien expresses a constant
>horror and revulsion at the idea of "technology" for *no* purpose.  Over and
>over, we see that the first fruit of evil is *pointless* destruction, even
>before purposeful destruction toward some evil but understandable goal.  The
>chief characterization of orcs is that they cut down trees FOR NO REASON, and
>leave the felled trunks to rot.  Hobbits and dwarves and elves all cut fire-
>wood, and burn charcoal in their furnaces, and so forth, but this is a right
>and proper use of wood.  Sandyman's new mill was allegedly built "to grind
>more and faster", but the real condemnation is in the observation that the
>new mill serves no needed function, there being no more grist for the new mill
>than there was for the old.  The "improvement" was unnecessary, and therefore
>wanton.


	I agree with you that unnecessary "technological improvements" are 
portrayed by Tolkien as being wanton and evil, but doesn't this just beg the 
question of where the line between proper and wanton technologies is drawn?  
At what point does an "improvement" become necessary for any of the good 
races/beings in Tolkien's fiction?  I don't think it ever does.  In LOTR, all 
"improvements" are implemented by either Sauron or Saruman for evil purposes. 
No technical improvements ever seem to be _necessary_ in Middle-earth; this 
would then imply that technological improvements are always wanton and
condemnable. I think that's fairly significant.
	I don't agree that the technologies that we might regard as more
necessary are entirely free from moral taint--  rather, I think they have to 
be viewed as a "necessary evil."  Let's take the first example which you
gave--  the chopping down of trees.  Treebeard does criticize the Orcs for
simply chopping down trees and leaving them to rot ("orc-mischief that"), and 
what really riles him are the trees that "are carried off to feed the fires of
Orthanc."  But, even more ordinary uses of wood--  the ones that you might 
call "right and proper" still seem to be fraught with some danger.  Simply
knowing that trees are sentient and animate in both Fangorn and the Old
Forest makes cutting wood--  even for the purpose of a simple bonfire-- a 
morally problematic act.  This is why Aragorn tells Legolas and Gimli to
"[c]ut no living wood" when they build their fire.  Any beings who cut wood
in a forest that is as alive as either of these are, at least at one level,
"destroyers and usurpers" (as Bombadil puts it)--  no matter what the 
purpose of that cutting may be.  
	Clearly, these are lesser evils than the evils committed by Saruman,
Sauron, or the Orcs--  and we might not want to call them "evils" at all.
But, I do think that they are acts which are (at least) mildy problematic.

>Recall Gimli's passionate monologue concerning what the Dwarves would do with
>the Glittering Caverns of Aglarond.  When Legolas expresses concern that they
>might "mar more than they _____" (improve?  I can't remember the word...), 

"one family of busy Dwarves with hammer and chisel might mar more than they
made."

>Gimli hastens to assure him that the Dwarves would only perform *proper* acts
>of workmanship, preserving the beauty even at the expense of lost riches.
>"Would you cut down flowering groves in the springtime for firewood?", he
>demands.  Again, the key issue is not *method*, but rather the suitability of
>the method to the purpose.

	This is actually a very complex example and I think there are a lot
of things that should be taken into consideration in discussing it.  In
fact, I think that it is in some ways the key to figuring out what Tolkien
is doing with the Dwarves, craft, and technology.  If I remember correctly,
you bring this example up in your next posting, so I'll elaborate in a 
response to that.  For now, I'll just point out that Gimli's vision of
what the Dwarves would do with the Glittering Caves doesn't really entail
any real mining or forging:  "None of Durin's race would mine those caves for
stones or ore, not if diamonds and gold could be found there. . . We would
tend these glades of flowering stone, not quarry them."  He goes on to 
elaborate that they would only make small passages to open up new areas of
the caves, that they would work extremely slowly, and that they would bring
in lights to enhance the natural beauty of the place.  This doesn't sound
to me like typical Dwarvish craft; rather than digging things out of the 
earth and making objects out of them, the Dwarves would simply be trying to
enhance the natural beauty of the place, transforming it as little as
possible.  (Gimli even points out that they would turn the lights off a
good portion of the time.)  The Dwarves here cease to be "makers" and instead
become "caretakers."  If this is the only morally unquestionable use of
Dwarvish craft and technology, it is noteworthy that it involves them
doing as little as possible.  It seems that the technology that is used least 
is used best.

	--  Jim C. <jchokey@leland.stanford.edu>