It's called The Philosophers Stone, not The Sorcerers Stone, amirite?

In the US it's the Sorcerer's Stone. I'm not sure why, but it is. I was confused when I walked into a library looking to get into the series and the first book was "The Philosopher's Stone." I was like, "huh, never heard of that sequel."

by Anonymous 14 years ago

Same. I thought it was something new and bugged out, but then I realized.... :(

by Anonymous 14 years ago

The US version is "Sorcerer's" because Scholastic Corporation didn't think a child would want to read a book with the word "Philosopher's" in it. Stupid, i know.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

I geeked really hard when I found out it's called the Philosopher's Stone elsewhere, because then I pictured Harry Potter and Edward Elric fighting over it. xD

by Anonymous 14 years ago

Well, Nicholous Finnel WAS a philosopher. Thats how he developed the Stone. In the U.S.A, the term philosopher has a similar meaning, but it has nothing to do with magic or wizards. So they found the catchiest synynomn for it and published it for the U.S.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

*Flannel, or however his name was pronounced or spelled

by Anonymous 14 years ago

*snorts* Flannel? It's Flamel.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

sorry. I mix up fictional immortals with fabrics a lot

by Anonymous 14 years ago

eww. harry potter.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

I bought the UK version even though i live in the US :D

by Anonymous 14 years ago

Me too!

by Anonymous 14 years ago

I'm going to have to hunt down a copy of the UK version...

by Anonymous 14 years ago

It's also called the Philosopher's Stone in Canada, that might be easier to find lol.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

J.K. Rowling regrets changing the name for the American audience actually. But yeah, it's Philosophers. People calling it Sorcerer's annoy me, even though it's not their fault. x].

by Anonymous 14 years ago

Also, Scholastic had "J.K. Rowling" written on the books instead of "Joanne Rowling" because they didn't think boys would read a book written by a woman. Incidentally, Rowling doesn't have a middle name; the K was just added in anyway.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

Joanne Kathleen Rowling, is what I thought. At least, that's what I read on the inside cover of the book.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

Kathleen is her grandmother's name but uses it as her middle name. Wobbuffet is right, she doesn't have a middle name

by Anonymous 14 years ago

I see. Learn something new everyday x].

by Anonymous 14 years ago

Philosphers Stone just makes me think of Fullmetal Alchemist.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

Whut's Full Metal Alchemist? o-o

by Anonymous 14 years ago

AWESOME! That's what it is. seriously, it's my favorite manga and anime about two brothers, age 15 and 14. In their world, alchemy is different, it's a science, used mainly by the military. To regain something important they've both lost, they both look for the Philosopher's Stone, the only thing that will allow them to use alchemy to fix what they put wrong. It sounds a LOT better, but any description beyond this would be a spoiler that you get in the first two chapters.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

It does sound awesome, even if I don't read manga. x].

by Anonymous 14 years ago

You should read it, it's great (: You can read the manga online, or you can watch episodes of the anime, for free on funimation.com

by Anonymous 14 years ago

I'm glad im not the only one who thought of Full metal alchemist when i read this :)

by Anonymous 14 years ago

In the US, a philosopher is someone who sits around thinking and postulating.....not some1 who does magic

by Anonymous 14 years ago

Yes, but the book was written in the UK, therefore you have to use the UK terms.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

well it says the same thing in the oxford dictionary, i don't know where or when this alchemist/magician definition of the word "philosopher" came about.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

Um... the Oxford dictionary is an American English dictionary, so it wouldn't have the British origin of the word. I think Americans simply adapted the meaning of the word "philosopher" to what we know of it as.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

from Gk. philosophia "love of knowledge, wisdom," from philo- "loving" + sophia "knowledge, wisdom," from sophis "wise, learned." i stillllll don't get where the alchemist/magician definition of the world "philosopher" came from..

by Anonymous 14 years ago

Wow. i think i just learned more from the comments on this post than i did at school today...

by Anonymous 14 years ago

The more you know!

by Anonymous 14 years ago

I always thought it made sense because the philosopher's stone is a real thing. it supposedly turns any metal into gold, but in history, it doesn't do anything else. Calling the stone from the books "the philosopher's stone" is kind of inaccurate then.... plus "sorcerer" sounds more magical

by Anonymous 14 years ago

Sorcerer only sounds more magical in American English, British people have an entirely different definition of "philosopher".

by Anonymous 14 years ago

i like both titles but it's both not just philosopher's though i would like to read/watch an edition where it was philosopher's and see how different it was

by Anonymous 14 years ago

http://www.amazon.com/Harry-Potter-Philosophers-Stone-Rowling/dp/155192398X/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1281395202&sr=1-3

by Anonymous 14 years ago

its sorcerers...sounds better. Plus its whats on the cover. TAKE A LOOK!!

by Anonymous 14 years ago

actually, my copy is called 'The PHILOSOPHER's Stone' so it's not always on the covor

by Anonymous 14 years ago

No it fucking isn't. Philosopher's stone is the oringinal. Arrogant american.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

ignorant brit

by Anonymous 14 years ago

I'm not from Britain you wanker

by Anonymous 14 years ago

so what

by Anonymous 14 years ago

I wish this was like MLIA so you could down the comments 100 times if you wanted.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

I personally like Philosopher's Stone better than Socerer's Stone, I dunno why but I do!

by Anonymous 14 years ago

i would love to read the Philosopher's Stone. it sounds more epic than the American version

by Anonymous 14 years ago