Abstract

Iris Murdochs moral philosophy concerns the sovereignty of the Good. In the first part of this text, the basic arguments of Murdoch's thought are discussed.Murdoch takes her starting point from an imagistic conception of morality. Far from being neutral observers of facts, human beings are imaginative perceivers: things and persons are 'seen as'. Imagination is at play in all human perceptions and reflections; which therefore are evaluations. All the time values are seen everywhere. This imagistic conception of morality then, goes hand in hand with the notion of the ubiquity of values, which becomes obvious when different activities are analysed. The analysis shows that all human activities are moral experiences. The awareness of doing something more or less successfully leads the way to the idea of perfection. Further reflection on this idea is highly problematic. Murdoch enacts Socrates' (or Plato's) discretion when asked to define the Good. She takes her cue from Anselm's arguments. A thoroughly moral interpretation of these arguments enables Murdoch to conclude that the idea of the Good is an inevitable reality. It is, however, also a universal. Specific criteria of goodness are derived from particular activities. The imagistic conception of morality, the insight in the ubiquity of values, the proposition that the idea of the Good is inevitable, and the argument that this idea is inextricably linked to the particularities of concrete life, constitute the foundations of Murdoch s moral philosophy, or, as she claims, of any serious moral philosophy. The second part of the text posits the question of a method proper to moral philosophy. It is argued that any attempt to delineate a specific method for moral philosophy is misleading. It is characteristic of the nature of morality to view methods metaphorically. Murdoch practises the metaphorical conception of method in all of her writings. Therefore it is not improper to explain her moral thought by a reading of both her novels and her philosophical essays. Read together, they prove to be an illuminating 'guide to morals'