Iris Murdoch and the Western Theological Imagination

by Miles Leeson (Editor), Frances White (Editor)

Overview

Scholarly interest in theological aspects of Murdoch’s fiction and philosophy took off slowly. It was thirty years after her writing debut that the first work taking detailed notice of the theological language deployed by this overtly-atheist author appeared, and it was a further decade before theologians began to engage with Murdoch’s work together. But it was not until the twenty-first century that this aspect of Murdoch’s thought and imagination began to receive sustained attention. This collection seeks to build on this foundation, begun forty years ago, and to expand the work in this area of Murdoch studies which has lately been gathering momentum. This project consolidates earlier discussion of the vital part theology plays in Murdoch’s thought, and then takes the debate in new directions. Contributors include a wide range of current Murdoch scholars from diverse disciplines who develop debate about this subject in a variety of innovative and fruitful ways, to inspire future works in this area of Murdoch studies.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9783031922602
Publisher:	Springer Nature Switzerland
Publication date:	09/14/2025
Series:	Iris Murdoch Today
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	5.83(w) x 8.27(h) x 0.00(d)

About the Author

Miles Leeson is Director of the Iris Murdoch Research Centre at the University of Chichester and Senior Lecturer in English Literature. He is also Visiting Research Fellow at Kingston University.

Frances White is Deputy Director of the Iris Murdoch Research Centre and Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Chichester.

Table of Contents

PART ONE: THEOLOGICANS, CHURCHES AND MYSTICS.- 1. Matthew Mills – Seeking Goodness: A Dialogue between Iris Murdoch and Peter Abelard.- 2. Anne Rowe– Iris Murdoch and Julian of Norwich.- 3. Peter Webster – Iris and the Christians: What did the British Churches make of Murdoch 1954-c1983.- 4. Frances White – Despite herself: Iris Murdoch, the reluctant Christian?.- 5. Paul Fiddes - The Theological Roots and Implications of Iris Murdoch’s Idea of the Mystical Christ.- PART TWO: THEOLOGY IN FICTION AND IN PHILOSOPHY.- 6. Miles Leeson - Iris Murdoch and Fictionalised Theology.- 7. Daniel Read - Iris Murdoch and The Book of Job.- 8. Hannah Maria Altorf – ‘The Point at which Plato starts making jokes’: The Fire and the Sun as Religious Text.- 9. Scott Moore – Forgiveness and the ‘Beautiful, Unexpected Strangeness of the World’ in Iris Murdoch.- PART THREE: OTHER ART FORMS AND MODES OF SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCE.- 10. Andrew Taylor – Dispersal and Gathering in Iris Murdoch’s The Bell and Andrei Tarkovsky’s Andrei Rublev.- 11. Rob Hardy– ‘Seeing morethan we are supposed to’: Iris Murdoch and the Occult.