Thesis (Ph. D.)--Open University. BLDSC no. D51546/84.

This dissertation is a study in philosophy of education and focuses on the moral dimensions of an individual’s formation, and on how reading fictional literature can contribute to the process of formation. The point of departure is the notion that education contains – or should contain – moral dimensions and thus contributes to the formation of individual life and a life shared with others. The study revolves around the philosophical works of Iris Murdoch (1919-1999) and what she calls “moral transformation” - a task and a striving towards realism and unselfishness. The study is concluded by a discussion of how Murdoch’s thinking contributes to the understanding of formation within philosophy of education. It is argued that Murdoch’s ideas about moral transformation can be summarised in four theses and that these show that transformation is a process of profound individual change. The theses are in short: 1) imagination supports moral transformation by allowing the individual to understand the world in a more realistic way, 2) attention supports transformation by directing the individual towards the good, 3) unselfing is a moral state of consciousness and a transformative process that leads towards unselfishness. The ego is subdued and the individual opens up to the influence of his or her surroundings, 4) reading fictional literature supports the moral transformation of the individual if the text has a quality of imagination. The study shows that Murdoch’s work can make an important contribution to the understanding of formation within the philosophy of education: With the idea of moral transformation as a point of departure the study develops questions of the individual’s formation by highlighting individuality and imagination. Moral transformation means gaining a deeper presence in one’s relationships, and it is a continuous process of discovering the world that the individual needs to endeavour to maintain. It is a striving towards unselfing.

The novels of Iris Murdoch, Doris Lessing and V.S. Naipaul are studied in the light of statements they have made in essays and interviews regarding the ethical implications of writing fiction. The purpose of this research is to examine the nature of the problems they have identified in the creative process of writing and the strategies each has used to address the ethical problems they perceive, and to assess the relative success of their chosen methods. It can be seen that, although for each of them the quest for truth is their highest concern, they have each developed very different ways of dealing with the problems they believe are connected with writing truthfully, and in addition, they have defined the particulars of these problems in different ways. It is concluded that the more carefully examined and individually defined these problems are, the greater the internal consistency and credibility which is achieved by the strategies they have developed to address the problems, and the more their work has developed in the course of their careers.

Orientador: Maria Clara Bonetti Paro / Banca: Maria das Graças Gomes Villa / Banca: Alzira Leite Vieira Allegro / Resumo: Iris Murdoch é uma figura dominante na literatura britânica do pós-guerra e também, uma filósofa notável que constantemente denunciou o interesse excessivo da filosofia moral moderna pelos temas da vontade, da deliberação e ação. Para ela, o estudo da ética deveria ter como prioridade o desenvolvimento da percepção estética, a atenção à realidade e, principalmente, a intensa apreensão de outros indivíduos. Murdoch considera a apreciação da beleza na arte e na natureza, não apenas como um exercício espiritual mas também, como uma maneira para alcançar a bondade, evitar o egocentrismo e ganhar o progresso moral. Seus romances são centrados na arte e no amor, pois Murdoch afirma que a boa arte e o amor intenso são intimações da verdade que levam o indivíduo ao aprimoramento moral. The Bell, seu romance publicado em 1958, descreve uma comunidade religiosa anglicana e os vários incidentes decorrentes da substituição do antigo sino da catedral. Esses eventos incitam reflexões em relação a várias questões morais, como por exemplo: a influência da religião e das instituições de poder na conduta moral; o modo de suplantar interesses próprios e o egoísmo em benefício do próximo, o papel das mulheres na sociedade e a maneira pela qual a sociedade é injusta e intolerante com aqueles cuja sexualidade difere da maioria. Assim, o objetivo desta pesquisa é analisar como certas questões da filosofia moral de Murdoch estão apresentadas nesse romance, The Bell, por meio da expressão literária, mostrando que a arte literária e visual estão amplamente relacionadas à sua teoria moral. / Abstract: Iris Murdoch is a dominant figure of postwar British literature and also a remarkable philosopher who constantly denounced the excessive interest of modern moral philosophy in the themes of will, deliberation and action. According to her, the study of ethics should prioritize the development of aesthetic perception, the attention towards reality and mainly, the intense apprehension of other individuals. Murdoch considers the appreciation of beauty in arts and nature not only as a spiritual exercise but also, as a way to reach goodness, to avoid egocentrism and to gain moral improvement. Her novels are centered on art and love because she considers that great art or intense love can give intimations of truth, and move one towards moral perfection. The Bell, her novel published in 1958, describes an Anglican religious community and the incidents that happened due to the replacement of the old bell of the cathedral. These events incite moral reflections such as: the influence of religion and of the institutions of power in moral conduct; the way to supplant egoism for the benefit of others, the role of women in society and the ways society is unfair and intolerant of those whose sexuality differs from the majority. Thus, the aim of this study is to analyse in which ways some issues of Iris Murdoch moral philosophy are presented in The Bell, by means of the literary expression showing that the literary and the visual arts are closely related to ethics in her moral theory. / Mestre

This thesis is an investigation of the journeys towards a sense of identity or selfhood, achieved through honest and accurate appreciation of the lives of others, made by several female characters in the fiction of A.S. Byatt and the late Iris Murdoch. I believe that because Byatt and Murdoch value literature as a serious business that teaches as well as entertains, their writing can play a significant role in illuminating the lives of women by means of its portrayal of the resolution of women’s struggles. Women’s lives, despite the rise of feminism, are still not equitable. While many women strive to attain a balance of independence and intimacy – what Thelma Shinn calls a “meronymic” relationship – and connection within community, many do not succeed in this endeavour. The numerous challenges they face are difficult and confronting, and the stories of their efforts resemble journeys through a labyrinth or maze. Byatt acknowledges Murdoch as her literary mother, frequently citing Murdoch’s belief in the ability of literature to improve human life. While Byatt and Murdoch are interested in what characters learn about their relations to others and the world, they make it clear that characters are constructs, not real people. Yet their fiction is an ongoing exploration of the nature of reality and the nature of selfhood, particularly that of women. According to feminist theories, women are more constrained than men, and are therefore the focus of this study, but their experience of constraint is a more complex matter than experience of mere undifferentiated oppression, and is better represented by the structure of the labyrinth than that of the simple, linear journey. I agree with Byatt’s and Murdoch’s view of the importance of fiction as a means of commenting on human relationships, particularly with the notion of the need for connection within community. The labyrinth, together with the Bildungsroman, provides a paradigm for the complex experiences of Byatt’s and Murdoch’s female characters. All the characters in this study struggle to flee from restraint, seek purpose and agency in the world through interaction with others, and escape a feminised Plato’s Cave by learning to see more accurately, and all but one emerge from the maze into an autonomous and independent existence in community with others.

This work examines the relationship between moral philosophy and literature. I start by exploring a dialectic that exists between “prevalent view” theorists (i.e., D. D. Raphael and Onora O'Neill), who argue that the moral interest of literature lies in explicit deliberative arguments modeled in literary texts, and Diamondian realist theorists (i.e., Alice Crary, Cora Diamond and Iris Murdoch), who argue that the “prevalent view” is too narrow. Rather, the ways in which literature affects us emotionally can make ineliminable contributions to fully rational moral thought. In Chapter Two, I explore potential challenges to this position, drawn from the works of Simon Blackburn. He argues that there are epistemological concerns (it relies upon a faulty view of language), and moral concerns (specifically relativism) with Diamondian realism. I respond to these challenges in Chapter Three and conclude that Crary, Diamond, and Murdoch have given us a better picture of literature's moral value.

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Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:25:23Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2009-03-18Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T20:53:10Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 ianuskiewtz_apd_me_arafcl.pdf: 2818002 bytes, checksum: fbf68e8a5d1520071e4ff57d4903c3da (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / Iris Murdoch é uma figura dominante na literatura britânica do pós-guerra e também, uma filósofa notável que constantemente denunciou o interesse excessivo da filosofia moral moderna pelos temas da vontade, da deliberação e ação. Para ela, o estudo da ética deveria ter como prioridade o desenvolvimento da percepção estética, a atenção à realidade e, principalmente, a intensa apreensão de outros indivíduos. Murdoch considera a apreciação da beleza na arte e na natureza, não apenas como um exercício espiritual mas também, como uma maneira para alcançar a bondade, evitar o egocentrismo e ganhar o progresso moral. Seus romances são centrados na arte e no amor, pois Murdoch afirma que a boa arte e o amor intenso são intimações da verdade que levam o indivíduo ao aprimoramento moral. The Bell, seu romance publicado em 1958, descreve uma comunidade religiosa anglicana e os vários incidentes decorrentes da substituição do antigo sino da catedral. Esses eventos incitam reflexões em relação a várias questões morais, como por exemplo: a influência da religião e das instituições de poder na conduta moral; o modo de suplantar interesses próprios e o egoísmo em benefício do próximo, o papel das mulheres na sociedade e a maneira pela qual a sociedade é injusta e intolerante com aqueles cuja sexualidade difere da maioria. Assim, o objetivo desta pesquisa é analisar como certas questões da filosofia moral de Murdoch estão apresentadas nesse romance, The Bell, por meio da expressão literária, mostrando que a arte literária e visual estão amplamente relacionadas à sua teoria moral. / Iris Murdoch is a dominant figure of postwar British literature and also a remarkable philosopher who constantly denounced the excessive interest of modern moral philosophy in the themes of will, deliberation and action. According to her, the study of ethics should prioritize the development of aesthetic perception, the attention towards reality and mainly, the intense apprehension of other individuals. Murdoch considers the appreciation of beauty in arts and nature not only as a spiritual exercise but also, as a way to reach goodness, to avoid egocentrism and to gain moral improvement. Her novels are centered on art and love because she considers that great art or intense love can give intimations of truth, and move one towards moral perfection. The Bell, her novel published in 1958, describes an Anglican religious community and the incidents that happened due to the replacement of the old bell of the cathedral. These events incite moral reflections such as: the influence of religion and of the institutions of power in moral conduct; the way to supplant egoism for the benefit of others, the role of women in society and the ways society is unfair and intolerant of those whose sexuality differs from the majority. Thus, the aim of this study is to analyse in which ways some issues of Iris Murdoch moral philosophy are presented in The Bell, by means of the literary expression showing that the literary and the visual arts are closely related to ethics in her moral theory.

No description available.

The point of departure of this thesis is derived from a modern tendency to create a dichotomy between selfless love and human flourishing. Modern attempts to liberate the human being from heteronomous oppression and the moral norms promoting this have sometimes led to the conclusion that selfless love is harmful to human flourishing. Such a conclusion has gained momentum also through modernist re-conceptualisations of the self as an autonomous but empty consciousness which must guard itself against determination by the other. In effect, significant thinkers have replaced the notion of selfless love with a call for self-assertion over against the other, as key to the individual person’s well-being. This has been matched by Christian dismissals of the individual’s pursuit of human flourishing. In the face of modern insights into the ‘desirous’ nature of the human being, modern Christian theology has equally struggled to sustain the tension between the traditional Christian notion of selfless or self-giving love and human beings’ desire to affirm themselves and to find personal fulfilment in this world. Strands of Christian theology have, for instance, affirmed a self-surrendering love at the cost of dismissing the individual’s worldly desires entirely. In this thesis, I outline this situation in modern thought and its problematic consequences. With a view to discerning whether selfless love and human flourishing can be re-connected, I then undertake close studies of the theologian Paul Tillich’s and the moral philosopher and novelist Iris Murdoch’s conceptualisations of the self and of love. As I will argue, Tillich’s and Murdoch’s engagement with modern thought leads them to develop accounts of the self, which correspond with understandings of love as both selfless and conducive to human flourishing. On the basis of their thought I thus argue that selfless love and human flourishing can be understood as interdependent even today.