Overview

In Why Iris Murdoch Matters Gary Browning draws on as yet unpublished archival material to present an unrivalled overview of Murdoch's work and thought. Browning argues for Murdoch's position amongst the key theorists of modern life, and discusses in detail her engagement with the notion of late modernity. Her multiple perspectives on art, philosophy, religion, politics and the self all relate to how she understands the nature of late modernity. Browning lucidly illustrates that through both her thought and fiction we can grasp the significance of issues that remain of paramount importance today: the possibilities of a moral life without foundations, the meaning of philosophy in a post-metaphysical age, the prospects of politics without ideological certainties and the significance of art after realism. A totally original work arguing persuasively that Iris Murdoch not only matters but is absolutely central to how we think through the contemporary age.

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9781472574480

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Reviews

An unusual meditation on `Why Iris Murdoch Matters' and an original introduction for both the student and the lay reader alike. Gary Browning's enthusiasm is to be admired. * Peter J Conradi, Professor Emeritus of English, Kingston University, UK *

She had a significant impact on some brilliant philosophers: Cora Diamond, John McDowell, Martha Nussbaum, and Charles Taylor. But she is not widely read ... Her work may be more visible now, but progress is slow. Browning's accessible, wide-ranging book will help accelerate it. * Los Angeles Review of Books * A stunning account of the philosophical and, to a lesser degree, political, underpinning of Murdoch's novel writing ... written in precise, rich prose, this is an important contribution to the growing sphere of Iris Murdoch studies but should also prove to be of immense interest to the general reader alike. * Irish Times * An original introduction for both the student and the lay reader alike. * Peter J Conradi, Professor Emeritus of English, Kingston University, UK * Gary Browning places Murdoch in her age and in ours: she is a profoundly historical and dialectical thinker from a very particular historical moment, whose influence and importance have only grown in recent years. He sees her in the round: this is Murdoch as first, the philosopher who refused to be either 'analytic' or 'continental': but then also and, very vividly, the novelist, the playwright, the political thinker and the letter-writer. An exciting and much-needed book. * Justin Broackes, Professor of Philosophy, Brown University, USA *

Author Information

Gary Browning is Professor of Politics at Oxford Brookes University, UK where he is also Dean for Research in the Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences.

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