Continuum Iris Murdoch and the Art of Imagining (Continuum Studies in British Philosophy)

Iris Murdoch and the Art of Imagining offers a new appreciation of Iris Murdoch's philosophy, emphasising the importance of images and the imagination for her thought. This book is first and foremost a study of Iris Murdoch's philosophical work. It examines how literature and imagination enabled Murdoch to form a philosophical response to the decline of religion. It thus argues that Murdoch is an important philosopher, because she has not confined herself to philosophy. The book also reconsiders various contemporary assumptions about what philosophy is and does. Through Le Doeuff's notion of the philosophical imaginary, it examines the different ways in which images and imagination are part of philosophy. Review "Altorf ... discusses Murdoch's objection to the widely held philosophical notion that the unexamined life is not worth living. She states that for Murdoch artists may portray moral ideals and actions that are not amenable to exact explanation. Thus we get a sense that it is perhaps through the imagination that one confronts the limits of imaging. Altorf's work opens an exploration of this notion as well as other intricacies of Murdoch's thinking, which will, I hope, prompt the reader to explore the depths of Murdoch's wide array of writings." - Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews--Sanford LakoffMention Book News, November 2008Mention Chronicle of Higher Education, January 23, 2009Mention --Book News, November 2008Mention --Chronicle of Higher Education, January 23, 2009Reviewed in The European Legacy, Vol. 16, No. 1'Altorf has created far more than a book on Iris Murdoch - imagery and imagination inspire the portrait of a woman philosopher. Employing the philosophical imaginary of Michele Le Doeuff, Altorf explores the art which captures the originality of Murdoch as a woman who writes novels and philosophy.' Pamela Sue Anderson, Regent's Park College, University of Oxford, UK"A welcome addition to the growing secondary literature on the philosophical writings of Iris Murdoch."-Sabina Lovibond, Religious Studies, Vol. 45, 2009Mention -Book News, November 2008Mention -Chronicle of Higher Education, January 23, 2009 About the Author Marije Altorf is Lecturer and Programme Director of Philosophy at St. Mary's University College, Strawberry Hill.