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Perfection and Fiction a Study in Iris Murdoch's Moral Philosophy Gåvertsson, Frits Perfection and Fiction A study in Iris Murdoch's Moral Philosophy Gåvertsson, Frits 2018 Document Version: Publisher's PDF, also known as Version of record Link to publication Citation for published version (APA): Gåvertsson, F. (2018). Perfection and Fiction: A study in Iris Murdoch's Moral Philosophy. (1st ed.). Lund University (Media-Tryck). 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LUND UNIVERSITY PO Box 117 221 00 Lund +46 46-222 00 00 Perfection and Fiction A study in Iris Murdoch’s Moral Philosophy Frits Gåvertsson DOCTORAL DISSERTATION by due permission of the Faculty of Humanities, Lund University, Sweden. To be defended at LUX: C121. Monday 24 September 10.15. Faculty opponent Professor Elisabeth Schellekens (Uppsala University) Organization: Lund University Document name: Perfection and Fiction Date of issue: 2018-09-17 Author(s): Frits Gåvertsson Sponsoring organization Title and subtitle: Perfection and Fiction: A study in Iris Murdoch’s moral philosophy Abstract This thesis comprises a study of the ethical thought of Iris Murdoch with special emphasis, as evidenced by the title, on how morality is intimately connected to self-improvement aiming at perfection and how the study of (literary) fiction has an important role to play in our strive towards bettering ourselves within the framework set by Murdoch’s moral philosophy. Key words: Iris Murdoch, Perfectionism, Philosophy and Literature, Literary Turn, Moral Philosophy, Ethics Classification system and/or index terms (if any) Supplementary bibliographical information Language. English ISSN and key title ISBN 978-91-88473-93-6 (Print); 978-91-88473-94-3 (Digital) Recipient’s notes Number of pages 309 Price Security classification I, the undersigned, being the copyright owner of the abstract of the above-mentioned dissertation, hereby grant to all reference sources permission to publish and disseminate the abstract of the above-mentioned dissertation. Signature Date 2018-08-03 Perfection and Fiction A study in Iris Murdoch’s Moral Philosophy Frits Gåvertsson Cover design and photo by Niklas Johansson Copyright Frits Gåvertsson Faculty of Humanities and Theology Department of Philosophy and Cognitive Science ISBN: 978-91-88473-93-6 (Print) ISBN: 978-91-88473-94-3 (Digital) Printed in Sweden by Media-Tryck, Lund University Lund 2018 WAN E S CO IC L D A B R E O L N Media-Tryck is an environmentally certified and ISO 14001 certified 1234 5678 provider of printed material. Read more about our environmental work at www.mediatryck.lu.se To Anna Contents Preface .............................................................................................. ix 1. Introduction ........................................................................................... 1 1.1 The Somerville School ............................................................... 5 1.2 Murdoch’s Influences and Legacy ............................................ 16 1.3 An Outline of The Sovereignty of Good ..................................... 22 1.4 The Fall of Perfectionism ......................................................... 33 1.5 Murdoch as a Perfectionist ....................................................... 39 2. On the Scope and Nature of Morality ................................................. 47 2.1 A Return to the Phenomena .................................................... 47 2.2 The Scope of Morality ............................................................. 52 2.3 Murdoch’s Platonism ............................................................... 61 2.4 Murdoch’s Conceptualism and an Example ............................ 63 2.5 Murdoch’s Realism................................................................... 68 2.6 Concept Possession and Moral Progress .................................. 73 2.7 Motivation ................................................................................ 82 3. Benefits of Murdoch’s Stance............................................................... 87 3.1 The Virtuous Peasant ............................................................... 87 3.2 Humility ................................................................................... 89 3.3 Evil, Objectification, and Recognition .................................... 95 3.4 Genuine Other-concern ........................................................... 99 3.5 Moral Deference ..................................................................... 103 3.6 Moral Exemplars .................................................................... 105 vi 3.7 The Individual as an Object of Love ...................................... 112 4. The Place for Theory ......................................................................... 117 4.1 Theory and Practicality .......................................................... 118 4.2 Beauty and the ‘Good’ ........................................................... 126 4.3 The Skill-Model of Virtue ...................................................... 129 4.4 Rightness and Practicality ...................................................... 136 4.5 Ends, Planning, and Situational Mastery ............................... 150 5. Great Art (and its Moral Merits)........................................................ 157 5.1 Aesthetics and Morality .......................................................... 157 5.2 What Plato said, and should have said, about Art ................. 164 5.3 Hegel’s Influence .................................................................... 177 5.4 The Sublime and the Real ...................................................... 179 5.5 Morality and Literature .......................................................... 196 5.6 Concluding Remarks .............................................................. 197 6. Moral Development, Friendship, Self-sufficiency, and Self-deception in Margaret Drabble’s The Millstone ...................................................... 201 6.1 Aristotelian Perfectionism ...................................................... 201 6.2 Literature and Moral Growth ................................................ 203 6.3 Reflections on the Role of Literature for Morality ................ 205 6.4 The Dangers of Literature ...................................................... 206 6.5 The First-person Voice ........................................................... 207 6.6 Social Connectedness ............................................................. 210 6.7 Living Together ...................................................................... 213 6.8 Self-deception ......................................................................... 219 7. Practical Deliberation and Political Extremism in Sophocles’ Antigone ................................................................................................................ 223 7.1 Introduction ........................................................................... 223 7.2 Goldhill on First Lines, Ismene, and Conflicts ...................... 226 7.3 Nussbaum on Practical Worlds and Deliberation ................. 227 vii 7.4 Uniting the Two Readings ..................................................... 231 7.5 Nussbaum on Creon’s Change of Heart ................................ 232 7.6 Goldhill on Compromise ....................................................... 233 7.7 A Synthesis and Some Conclusions ....................................... 235 7.8 Teiresias as A Murdochian Exemplar ..................................... 236 8. The Cost of Conviction in John Williams’s Stoner ........................... 241 8.1 Introduction ........................................................................... 241 8.2 The Novel ............................................................................... 243 8.3 Stoner’s Life as a Whole ......................................................... 245 8.4 The Platonic Image of the Soul.............................................. 246 8.5 Conviction, Love, and Planning ............................................ 251 8.6 External Goods, and Moral Vision ........................................ 252 8.7 Love and Learning .................................................................. 257 8.8 Light ....................................................................................... 262 References and Abbreviations ................................................................. 265 viii Preface As evidenced by the title of this work, Dame Iris Murdoch (1919–1999) believed that morality is intimately connected to self-improvement aiming at perfection, and that the study
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