Iris Murdoch was a notable philosopher before she was a notable
novelist and her work was brave, brilliant, and independent. She
made her name first for her challenges to Gilbert Ryle and
behaviourism, and later for her book on Sartre (1953), but she had
the greatest impact with her work in moral philosophy--and
especially her book The Sovereignty of Good (1970). She turned
expectantly from British linguistic philosophy to continental
existentialism, but was dissatisfied there too; she devised a
philosophy and a style of philosophy that were distinctively her
own. Murdoch aimed to draw out the implications, for metaphysics
and the conception of the world, of rejecting the standard
dichotomy of language into the 'descriptive' and the 'emotive'. She
aimed, in Wittgensteinian spirit, to describe the phenomena of
moral thinking more accurately than the 'linguistic behaviourists'
like R. M. Hare. This 'empiricist' task could be acheived, Murdoch
thought, only with help from the idealist tradition of Kant, Hegel,
and Bradley. And she combined with this a moral psychology, or
theory of motivation, that went back to Plato, but was influenced
by Freud and Simone Weil. Murdoch's impact can be seen in the moral
philosophy of John McDowell and, in different ways, in Richard
Rorty and Charles Taylor, as well as in the recent movements under
the headings of moral realism, particularism, moral perception, and
virtue theory.
This volume brings together essays by critics and admirers of
Murdoch's work, and includes a longer Introduction on Murdoch's
career, reception, and achievement. It also contains a previously
unpublished chapter from the book on Heidegger that Murdoch had
been working on shortly before her death, and a Memoir by her
husband John Bayley. It gives not only an introduction to Murdoch's
important philosophical life and work, but also a picture of
British philosophy in one of its heydays and at an important moment
of transition.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!
Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
