Metaphysics as a Guide to Morals was Iris Murdoch’s major philosophical testament and a highly original and ambitious attempt to talk about our time. Yet in the scholarship on her philosophical work thus far it has often been left in the shade of her earlier work. This volume brings together 16 scholars who offer accessible readings of chapters and themes in the book, connecting them to Murdoch’s larger oeuvre, as well as to central themes in 20th century and contemporary thought. (...) The essays bring forth the strength, originality, and continuing relevance of Murdoch’s late thought, addressing, among other matters, her thinking about the Good, the role and nature of metaphysics in the contemporary world, the roles of art in human understanding, questions of unity and plurality in thinking, the possibilities of spiritual life without God, and questions of style and sensibility in intellectual work. (shrink)

Iris Murdoch’s late major work Metaphysics as a Guide to Morals is rich in unusual philosophical insight, but frequently found difficult, not least because its form and perspectives defy the expectations of her readers. In this introduction we review some central aspects of the book: the nature of Murdoch’s philosophical ambitions, her attempts at rethinking faith and spirituality in a secular world, her work on the metaphysical underpinnings of our thinking, the roles of art in all of this, and her (...) historical sensibility, which up to recently has largely been overlooked by commentators. We also look at the textual features of the book which make it particularly challenging but also gratifying for the reader who has discovered its distinctive charms. (shrink)