Dear Iris Murdoch,
I love your novels and was interested to read about your philosophy. What do you think is our duty to each other in a time of social division and environmental breakdown?
Love,
Rosemary
Dear Rosemary,
Many thanks for writing + posting a philosophical question. I have thought hard about our duties to others + environmental concerns. It is clear that all should have rights, protecting basic freedoms + maintaining an environment. In my philosophical writings I have highlighted the importance of basic rights + axioms + the increasing recognition of our environment. In my novels, as well as charting the personal drive for love and truthfulness I have also looked to recognise the complexities of the soul & world.
love Iris/Gary Browning
Gary Browning
Oxford Brookes University, UK
Iris Murdoch undertakes philosophy by relating it to lived experience and the circumstances of her time. She recognises the processes of demythologisation that sever the modern world from its premodern myths yet at the same time she aims to continue to see philosophy as making sense of the whole of life, including our moral vision, our political commitments and our appreciation of the role of art in alerting us to truths.
