Product Description

Throughout her distinguished and prolific writing career, she explored questions of good and bad, myth and morality. The framework for Murdoch's questions - and her own conclusions - can be found in the Sovereignty of Good.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #335533 in Books
• Published on: 2001-05-23
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 112 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780415253994
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Review

One of the very few modern books of philosophy which people outside academic philosophy find really useful. - Mary Midgely

... Murdochs attack is the fruit of a thorough professional involvement with the school of thought to which she is opposed. - Anthony Quinton, Sunday Telegraph

All three essays which make up this book, The Idea of Perfection, On `God and `Good, and The Sovereignty of Good over Other Concepts, are superb. - The Guardian

All three essays which make up this book are superb . . . She has carefully pondered all that logical analysis, existentialism, Marxism, Freudianism can say, has learned from them, and yet is able to present an old-fashioned view with complete modernity.
–The Guardian

Another charismatic teacher, Donald MacKinnon, steered her toward moral philosophy- an area of study that would fascinate her to the end and to which she made significant contributions with two landmark studies, The Sovereignty of Good(1970, and recently brought back into print by Routledge as part of its admirable Classics series) and Metaphysics as a Guide to Morals (1992).
–Jay Parini, Harper's Magazine

Iris ... never minded being unfashionable. That is what makes The Sovereignty of Goodso good - what makes it, still, one of the very few modern books of philosophy which people outside academic philosophy find really helpful.
–Mary Midgley

The theme is the inadequacy of the account of human nature and value provided by contemporary, academic analytic philosophy. Murdoch's attack is the fruit of a thorough professional involvement with the school of thought to which she is opposed.
–The Sunday Telegraph

About the Author
Dame Iris Murdoch (1919-1999). Irish-born British novelist and philosopher. Recipient of numerous awards and accolades, including the Booker McConnell prize and the Whitbread prize.

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Customer Reviews

The return of Platonic realism
It might seem odd that the other review of this book ('Lucid and brilliant') describes her moral philosophy as "a kind of Anglican conservatism" since Dame Iris was an atheist. However, I have to agree that she could largely stand in the tradition of Bishop Joseph Butler (1692-1752), the great Anglican theologian and philosopher, who largely represents what might be considered traditional English or Anglican moral ethics. The similarities are due to the fact that Murdoch, while an atheist, was not a materialist by any means. She was a Platonist -- in about as pure a sense as you can imagine -- and Platonism was/is highly influential in Anglican (not to mention, Roman Catholic) thought. While she does tweak Plato a bit, her moral realism is amazingly congruent with that of Plato. For instance, she speaks much of the Good as that which we must direct our attention and even love towards. Naturally, she attacks the dominant moral theories of the modern era -- deontological/Kantian and utilitatarian ethics -- in much the same way that G.E.M. Anscombe did in her essay, "Modern Moral Philosophy" (1958), which revived virtue ethics. If you enjoy Miss Anscombe or other similar, pro-metaphysical moral philosophers of the 20th century (such as Simone Weil or Alasdair MacIntyre), then you will surely enjoy this book.

In 1992, Iris Murdoch (who mostly wrote novels) expanded her ideas on ethics in her book, 'Metaphysics As a Guide to Morals.' This is a much larger work and would greatly benefit from reading The Sovereignty of Good first. All of her essential moral concepts are found in The Sovereignty of Good, in a clear and succinct manner. However, her views, like all philosophies, are not without criticisms. The best collection of critical (both positive and negative) essays on her work is 'Iris Murdoch and the Search for Human Goodness,' which was born out of a conference on Iris Murdoch held at the Divinity School of the University of Chicago in 1994. It includes essays by some of today's leading moral philosophers and theologians, including Charles Taylor, Martha Nussbaum, Stanley Hauerwas, and William Schweiker. For a full treatment of Iris Murdoch's moral philosophy, see Maria Antonaccio's 'Picturing the Human: The Moral Thought of Iris Murdoch.' Both of these books are excellent and essential for anyone doing an academic study of Dame Iris.

Lucid and brilliant
Murdoch's clarity and keenness as a thinker are everywhere evident in the three essays that comprise this short book. It is at once a kind of paean to common sense and an intricate philosophical working-through of fundamental human dillemmas.

In the subject of moral philosophy, Murdoch clearly comes down on the side of what many might feel to be a kind of Anglican conservatism, though a careful reading will, I think, reveal the deep sense of connectedness and love which inform her thinking. In particular, the book offers a fertile critique of central concepts in existential thought, and of the moral relativism which postmodern philosophy can sometimes engender.

Readers of her novels in particular will appreciate this glimpse of Murdoch's philosophical thought, and will notice how it informs her craft as an artist.