Houses of Harry Potter

In Harry Potter, there are four distinct houses from which the sorting hat can place students. One of the houses being Slytherin. Many students who enter Slytherin, end up as a distinctly bad witch or wizard. Why does Slytherin exist then? Why not get rid of Slytherin and limit the bad witches or wizards?

The houses of Harry Potter can be viewed parallel to different schools of philosophy. There isn't a philosophy in existence that is the best one. Everything is relative and circumstantial. The best philosophy to choose, depends on the person and their circumstances.

Ideally, idealism is what we want and everyone can make all of the right choices and be the best version of themselves possible. What are the right choices though? What is the best version of oneself? Everyone is different and no one person is living the same life as another. The exact right thing to do and the best version of oneself can never actually be agreed upon. Only idealized before or after things happen.

Different philosophies exist because of this impossibility of alignment. Good and bad people don't exist. We are all doing what we think is best all of the time and are subject to deterministic factors outside of our control. No one is ever in control of anything. We are all inevitably exact products of our environment and are only along for the ride. The lack of a steering wheel can be frightening.

The house of Slytherin exists because of the inevitability of different personalities and life circumstances. The best choices are made through an agreement between our true selves and our environment. While Slytherin is not the ideal house to be a part of it, it is a necessity for cultivating the best possible choices.

Sometimes idealism is best. Sometimes stoicism is best. Sometimes cynicism is best. Sometimes pessimism is best.

Each school of philosophy exists for the same reason the houses of Harry Potter exist. It is because we are all different and are all faced with different circumstances. None of them are the best. None of them are the worst. Depending on who we are and what we are facing, we connect with one of them more than another.

It is the connection that philosophy gives us with ourselves and our reality that makes us better. Love is connection. Philosophy gives us love.