[HPforGrownups] What is Canon?

[Kathryn Cawte]

No: HPFGUIDX 55494

 Katy wrote -

 
I'm a nasty little English-botching American ;) So i'm curious as to what a 
Philosopher" is in Britain? I haven't looked it up in a dictionary, 
but when i hear the word 
"Philosopher" i think of someone who reads a lot, is very intelligent and
gives lectures on different subjects...like Socrates. 
And to a young person, they're considered very BORING and uppity. Heck, i'm
23 and it still sounds like a boring occupation to me :P 
So basically, to a young person (who the first book was originally targeted
at), it would certainly have a negative connotation. I'm glad of the 
change.
 
Now a Sorcerer on the other hand is an evil, powerful, magical wizard where
i come from. I'm not sure why, but the word "Sorcerer" has 
always had an "evil" connotation to me. So perhaps it wasn't the best choice
of words either. Maybe "HP and the Wizard's Stone" would've 
been more appropriate.
 
Now me -

That's a fairly accurate definition of a philosopher, someone who wanders
around wondering whether we truly exist or jumping ut of their bath and
running through the streets shouting Eureka, but she's not talking about a
philosopher she's talking about the 'Philosopher's Stone' which is a
specific artefact which has been sought for centuries and in the Potterverse
actually exists. There is no such thing as the Sorcerer's Stone or the
Wizard's Stone (well technically there's no such thing as the Philosopher's
Stone since it was never discovered in real life but there's no mythical
Sorcerer or Wizard's stone either)

The Philosopher's Stone is as real as the Holy Grail or Excalibur. It would
be like deciding that her target readers are for example not religious so 
her novel Harry Potter and the Holy Grail (which I will point out I'm making
up to illustrate my point for those of you who, like me, tend to read these
messages in the wee small hours of the morning and get easily confused)
would be called Harry Potter and the Magical Grail .....

Uh yeah, I'm not sure I'm putting this very well - but my point is that she
didn't invent the Philosopher's Stone, it's not the Goblet of Fire, it's an
actual part of history/mythology and as such the choice of words wasn't hers
and changing the name is silly. Expecially the implication that American
kids are somehow more easily bored or more stupid than the rest of the
English-speaking world, all of whom coped perfectly well with the word
Philosopher.

K