John Bayley
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199289905
- eISBN:
- 9780191728471
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199289905.003.0003
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy, Moral Philosophy
This chapter presents a short memoir of Iris Murdoch as lecturer and traveller—and her relations, among other things, to God, to power (and Elias Canetti), and to what Philippa Foot has called ...
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This chapter presents a short memoir of Iris Murdoch as lecturer and traveller—and her relations, among other things, to God, to power (and Elias Canetti), and to what Philippa Foot has called “Natural Goodness”.Less
This chapter presents a short memoir of Iris Murdoch as lecturer and traveller—and her relations, among other things, to God, to power (and Elias Canetti), and to what Philippa Foot has called “Natural Goodness”.
David Miller
- Published in print:
- 1997
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198293569
- eISBN:
- 9780191599910
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198293569.003.0005
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
The principle of nationality defended in this book is contrasted with conservative nationalism on one side and radical multiculturalism on the other. Conservative nationalists treat national ...
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The principle of nationality defended in this book is contrasted with conservative nationalism on one side and radical multiculturalism on the other. Conservative nationalists treat national identities as rigid and authoritative, and therefore resist the changes in identity that immigration, for example, requires. Radical multiculturalists support the political expression of group identity, but fail to see how a secure sense of national identity can benefit minority groups. It is a defensible aim of public policy to integrate groups into such an identity, in particular, through the education system. Cultural minorities can legitimately demand equal treatment, but special rights for such groups are in general unjustified.Less
The principle of nationality defended in this book is contrasted with conservative nationalism on one side and radical multiculturalism on the other. Conservative nationalists treat national identities as rigid and authoritative, and therefore resist the changes in identity that immigration, for example, requires. Radical multiculturalists support the political expression of group identity, but fail to see how a secure sense of national identity can benefit minority groups. It is a defensible aim of public policy to integrate groups into such an identity, in particular, through the education system. Cultural minorities can legitimately demand equal treatment, but special rights for such groups are in general unjustified.
Nicolás Dumit Estévez (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780813034676
- eISBN:
- 9780813046303
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Florida
- DOI:
- 10.5744/florida/9780813034676.003.0014
- Subject:
- Music, Dance
Nicolás Dumit Estévez highlights the importance of television in the Caribbean, going back to his Dominican childhood and his fascination with the larger than life singing and dancing vedettes he ...
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Nicolás Dumit Estévez highlights the importance of television in the Caribbean, going back to his Dominican childhood and his fascination with the larger than life singing and dancing vedettes he watched. They included the over-the top Iris Chacón from Puerto Rico, Mayra el Ciclón del Caribe from the Dominican Republic, and Tongolele, star of Mexican movies. A performance artist who has translated a mix of Dominican and U.S. identity into projects such as “Super Merengue” and “The Flag,” Estévez as an adult in New York turned his childhood desire to become a vedette into a performance piece, “The Land Columbus Loved Best,” in which he became a male vedette.Less
Nicolás Dumit Estévez highlights the importance of television in the Caribbean, going back to his Dominican childhood and his fascination with the larger than life singing and dancing vedettes he watched. They included the over-the top Iris Chacón from Puerto Rico, Mayra el Ciclón del Caribe from the Dominican Republic, and Tongolele, star of Mexican movies. A performance artist who has translated a mix of Dominican and U.S. identity into projects such as “Super Merengue” and “The Flag,” Estévez as an adult in New York turned his childhood desire to become a vedette into a performance piece, “The Land Columbus Loved Best,” in which he became a male vedette.
David Kipen
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520268807
- eISBN:
- 9780520948877
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520268807.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
This chapter lists the annual events in the San Francisco Bay area, such as: the Shrine East-West Football Game, the California Dog Show, the National Match Play Open Golf Championship, the Open Golf ...
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This chapter lists the annual events in the San Francisco Bay area, such as: the Shrine East-West Football Game, the California Dog Show, the National Match Play Open Golf Championship, the Open Golf Tournament, Chinese New Year, the Citrus Fair, the Easter Sunrise Services, Army Day, the Annual Pistol Shoot Food Show, the Spring Yacht Regatta, the Japanese Cherry Blossom Festival, the Wild Flower Show, the Iris Blooming Season, the Tamalpais Center Flower Show, the Spring Flower Show, the Children's May Day Festival, the Early Days Fiesta, the Rodeo, the Scandinavian Midsummer Day Celeration, the Fireworks and Motorboat Regatta, the Bastille Day Celebration, Admission Day celerbrations, the Labor Day Parade, the Columbus Day Festival and Motorboat Regatta, the Grand National Livestock Exposition, and the Parade of the Witches.Less
This chapter lists the annual events in the San Francisco Bay area, such as: the Shrine East-West Football Game, the California Dog Show, the National Match Play Open Golf Championship, the Open Golf Tournament, Chinese New Year, the Citrus Fair, the Easter Sunrise Services, Army Day, the Annual Pistol Shoot Food Show, the Spring Yacht Regatta, the Japanese Cherry Blossom Festival, the Wild Flower Show, the Iris Blooming Season, the Tamalpais Center Flower Show, the Spring Flower Show, the Children's May Day Festival, the Early Days Fiesta, the Rodeo, the Scandinavian Midsummer Day Celeration, the Fireworks and Motorboat Regatta, the Bastille Day Celebration, Admission Day celerbrations, the Labor Day Parade, the Columbus Day Festival and Motorboat Regatta, the Grand National Livestock Exposition, and the Parade of the Witches.
Monica Mookherjee
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748632794
- eISBN:
- 9780748652556
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748632794.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Political Philosophy
This book attempts to reconfigure feminism in a way that responds to cultural diversity. The book contends that a discourse of rights can be formulated and that this task is crucial to negotiating a ...
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This book attempts to reconfigure feminism in a way that responds to cultural diversity. The book contends that a discourse of rights can be formulated and that this task is crucial to negotiating a balance between women's interests and multicultural claims. The book reconfigures feminism in a way that responds to cultural diversity, by drawing on Iris Young's idea of ‘gender as seriality’. It argues that a discourse of rights can be formulated and that this task is crucial to negotiating a balance between women's interests and multicultural justice. The book works through a set of dilemmas in modern liberal democracies including: the resurgence of the feminist controversy over the Hindu practice of widow-immolation (sati); gender-discriminatory Muslim divorce laws in the famous Shah Bano controversy in India; forced marriage in South Asian communities in the UK; the rights of evangelical Christian parents to exempt their children from secular education; and the recent controversy about the rights of Muslim girls to wear the hijab in state schools in France.Less
This book attempts to reconfigure feminism in a way that responds to cultural diversity. The book contends that a discourse of rights can be formulated and that this task is crucial to negotiating a balance between women's interests and multicultural claims. The book reconfigures feminism in a way that responds to cultural diversity, by drawing on Iris Young's idea of ‘gender as seriality’. It argues that a discourse of rights can be formulated and that this task is crucial to negotiating a balance between women's interests and multicultural justice. The book works through a set of dilemmas in modern liberal democracies including: the resurgence of the feminist controversy over the Hindu practice of widow-immolation (sati); gender-discriminatory Muslim divorce laws in the famous Shah Bano controversy in India; forced marriage in South Asian communities in the UK; the rights of evangelical Christian parents to exempt their children from secular education; and the recent controversy about the rights of Muslim girls to wear the hijab in state schools in France.
Andrew R. H. Thompson
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780813165998
- eISBN:
- 9780813166698
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Kentucky
- DOI:
- 10.5810/kentucky/9780813165998.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
This concluding chapter places the process of critical examination and transformation of imaginations in the larger context of the moral life of the church. This process is a central feature of a ...
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This concluding chapter places the process of critical examination and transformation of imaginations in the larger context of the moral life of the church. This process is a central feature of a pattern for theocentric moral action: a set of concrete practices intended to enact and sustain the theocentric imaginations described throughout the book. The author responds to the criticism that this approach leads only to resignation and undermines any possibility of a strong prophetic challenge. He does this, first, by arguing that this criticism misunderstands key features of Niebuhr’s position and represents the absolutizing of the relative against which he warns, and second, by calling for careful and active attention to the places of Appalachia—that is, by really loving the mountains. He argues that viewing MTR as representative of a new geological epoch—the anthropocene—may be the strongest theocentric challenge to the practice. Finally, he offers some specific guidelines for an ethical response to MTR.Less
This concluding chapter places the process of critical examination and transformation of imaginations in the larger context of the moral life of the church. This process is a central feature of a pattern for theocentric moral action: a set of concrete practices intended to enact and sustain the theocentric imaginations described throughout the book. The author responds to the criticism that this approach leads only to resignation and undermines any possibility of a strong prophetic challenge. He does this, first, by arguing that this criticism misunderstands key features of Niebuhr’s position and represents the absolutizing of the relative against which he warns, and second, by calling for careful and active attention to the places of Appalachia—that is, by really loving the mountains. He argues that viewing MTR as representative of a new geological epoch—the anthropocene—may be the strongest theocentric challenge to the practice. Finally, he offers some specific guidelines for an ethical response to MTR.
Garry L. Hagberg
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199234226
- eISBN:
- 9780191715440
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199234226.003.0007
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Mind, Philosophy of Language
This chapter discusses the misleading picture of the inferential perception of persons. It also discusses the connection to the other-minds problem, Goethe on the perception of expressive gestures ...
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This chapter discusses the misleading picture of the inferential perception of persons. It also discusses the connection to the other-minds problem, Goethe on the perception of expressive gestures and characteristics in art and sculpture (the Laocoon group, Leonardo's Last Supper, a Rembrandt etching), the particularly interesting case of acting, Iris Murdoch and ‘the unfrozen past’, aspect-perception and self-interpretation, and the notion of creative self-description. The chapter finishes on seeing the past in a new light.Less
This chapter discusses the misleading picture of the inferential perception of persons. It also discusses the connection to the other-minds problem, Goethe on the perception of expressive gestures and characteristics in art and sculpture (the Laocoon group, Leonardo's Last Supper, a Rembrandt etching), the particularly interesting case of acting, Iris Murdoch and ‘the unfrozen past’, aspect-perception and self-interpretation, and the notion of creative self-description. The chapter finishes on seeing the past in a new light.
Lyndsey Stonebridge
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748642359
- eISBN:
- 9780748652150
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748642359.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, Criticism/Theory
This book tells the story of the struggle to imagine new forms of justice after Nuremberg. Returning to the work of Hannah Arendt as a theoretical starting point, the author traces an aesthetics of ...
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This book tells the story of the struggle to imagine new forms of justice after Nuremberg. Returning to the work of Hannah Arendt as a theoretical starting point, the author traces an aesthetics of judgement in post-war writers and intellectuals, including Rebecca West, Elizabeth Bowen, Muriel Spark and Iris Murdoch. Writing in the false dawn of a new era of international justice and human rights, these complicated women intellectuals were drawn to the law because of its promise of justice, yet critical of its political blindness and suspicious of its moral claims. Bringing together literary-legal theory with trauma studies, the book argues that today we have much to learn from these writers' impassioned scepticism about the law's ability to legislate for the territorial violence of our times.Less
This book tells the story of the struggle to imagine new forms of justice after Nuremberg. Returning to the work of Hannah Arendt as a theoretical starting point, the author traces an aesthetics of judgement in post-war writers and intellectuals, including Rebecca West, Elizabeth Bowen, Muriel Spark and Iris Murdoch. Writing in the false dawn of a new era of international justice and human rights, these complicated women intellectuals were drawn to the law because of its promise of justice, yet critical of its political blindness and suspicious of its moral claims. Bringing together literary-legal theory with trauma studies, the book argues that today we have much to learn from these writers' impassioned scepticism about the law's ability to legislate for the territorial violence of our times.
Martin Puchner
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199730322
- eISBN:
- 9780199852796
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199730322.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, Drama
Most philosophy has rejected the theater, denouncing it as a place of illusion or moral decay; the theater in turn has rejected philosophy, insisting that drama deals in action, not ideas. ...
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Most philosophy has rejected the theater, denouncing it as a place of illusion or moral decay; the theater in turn has rejected philosophy, insisting that drama deals in action, not ideas. Challenging both views, this book shows that theater and philosophy have always been crucially intertwined. Plato is the presiding genius of this alternative history, not only as a theorist of drama, but also as a dramatist himself, one who developed a dialogue-based dramaturgy that differs markedly from the standard, Aristotelian view of theater. This book discovers scores of dramatic adaptations of Platonic dialogues, the most immediate proof of Plato's hitherto unrecognized influence on theater history. Plato was central to modern drama as well, with figures such as Wilde, Shaw, Pirandello, Brecht, and Stoppard using Plato to create a new drama of ideas. The book also considers complementary developments in philosophy, offering a theatrical history of philosophy that includes Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Burke, Sartre, Camus, and Deleuze. These philosophers use theatrical terms, concepts, and even dramatic techniques in their writings. The book mobilizes this double history of philosophical theater and theatrical philosophy to subject current habits of thought to critical scrutiny. In dialogue with contemporary thinkers such as Martha Nussbaum, Iris Murdoch, and Alain Badiou, the book formulates the contours of a “dramatic Platonism”. This new Platonism does not seek to return to an idealist theory of forms, but it does point beyond the reigning philosophies of the body, of materialism and of cultural relativism.Less
Most philosophy has rejected the theater, denouncing it as a place of illusion or moral decay; the theater in turn has rejected philosophy, insisting that drama deals in action, not ideas. Challenging both views, this book shows that theater and philosophy have always been crucially intertwined. Plato is the presiding genius of this alternative history, not only as a theorist of drama, but also as a dramatist himself, one who developed a dialogue-based dramaturgy that differs markedly from the standard, Aristotelian view of theater. This book discovers scores of dramatic adaptations of Platonic dialogues, the most immediate proof of Plato's hitherto unrecognized influence on theater history. Plato was central to modern drama as well, with figures such as Wilde, Shaw, Pirandello, Brecht, and Stoppard using Plato to create a new drama of ideas. The book also considers complementary developments in philosophy, offering a theatrical history of philosophy that includes Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Burke, Sartre, Camus, and Deleuze. These philosophers use theatrical terms, concepts, and even dramatic techniques in their writings. The book mobilizes this double history of philosophical theater and theatrical philosophy to subject current habits of thought to critical scrutiny. In dialogue with contemporary thinkers such as Martha Nussbaum, Iris Murdoch, and Alain Badiou, the book formulates the contours of a “dramatic Platonism”. This new Platonism does not seek to return to an idealist theory of forms, but it does point beyond the reigning philosophies of the body, of materialism and of cultural relativism.
Martin Puchner
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199730322
- eISBN:
- 9780199852796
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199730322.003.0005
- Subject:
- Literature, Drama
The influence of Plato on modern philosophy is immense. Through his dramatic writing, he is a constant reminder of the tangible, the personal, and the concrete. This chapter advocates a way of ...
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The influence of Plato on modern philosophy is immense. Through his dramatic writing, he is a constant reminder of the tangible, the personal, and the concrete. This chapter advocates a way of rethinking Plato in modern times through a discussion of contemporary Platonism. This objective is attained by presenting a number of contemporary philosophers who are self-declared Platonists. This chapter discusses in detail three Platonists that were inclined towards dramatic Platonism: Iris Murdoch and her critique of language philosophy and relativism, Martha Nussbaum and her program that accords intelligence to emotions and envisions the work of emotions as some kind of Platonist ascent, and Alain Badiou and his approach to dramatic Platonism with continental philosophy.Less
The influence of Plato on modern philosophy is immense. Through his dramatic writing, he is a constant reminder of the tangible, the personal, and the concrete. This chapter advocates a way of rethinking Plato in modern times through a discussion of contemporary Platonism. This objective is attained by presenting a number of contemporary philosophers who are self-declared Platonists. This chapter discusses in detail three Platonists that were inclined towards dramatic Platonism: Iris Murdoch and her critique of language philosophy and relativism, Martha Nussbaum and her program that accords intelligence to emotions and envisions the work of emotions as some kind of Platonist ascent, and Alain Badiou and his approach to dramatic Platonism with continental philosophy.
Justin Broackes (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199289905
- eISBN:
- 9780191728471
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199289905.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy, Moral Philosophy
This book offers a detailed introduction to Iris Murdoch's philosophical work, especially the moral philosophy of The Sovereignty of Good (1970). Murdoch argued for an important and distinctive ...
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This book offers a detailed introduction to Iris Murdoch's philosophical work, especially the moral philosophy of The Sovereignty of Good (1970). Murdoch argued for an important and distinctive position, in opposition to the mid‐20th‐century analytic philosophers like R. M. Hare and Stuart Hampshire, and to existentialists like Sartre. Murdoch combined a form of moral realism or ‘naturalism’, allowing into the world cases of such properties as humility or generosity; an anti‐scientism; a rejection of Humean moral psychology; a sort of ‘particularism’; special attention to the virtues; and emphasis on the metaphor of moral perception or ‘seeing’ moral facts. (A similar combination of views is found in the work of John McDowell.) What we can choose depends on what we can see; what we can see depends in turn upon the conceptual scheme we have. This book presents some intellectual biography; the book investigates the arguments of The Sovereignty of Good and other articles; the book comments on the influence on Murdoch of Simone Weil, Plato, Kant and Wittgenstein; and on her historical approach; and the book introduces the contributions in the present volume.Less
This book offers a detailed introduction to Iris Murdoch's philosophical work, especially the moral philosophy of The Sovereignty of Good (1970). Murdoch argued for an important and distinctive position, in opposition to the mid‐20th‐century analytic philosophers like R. M. Hare and Stuart Hampshire, and to existentialists like Sartre. Murdoch combined a form of moral realism or ‘naturalism’, allowing into the world cases of such properties as humility or generosity; an anti‐scientism; a rejection of Humean moral psychology; a sort of ‘particularism’; special attention to the virtues; and emphasis on the metaphor of moral perception or ‘seeing’ moral facts. (A similar combination of views is found in the work of John McDowell.) What we can choose depends on what we can see; what we can see depends in turn upon the conceptual scheme we have. This book presents some intellectual biography; the book investigates the arguments of The Sovereignty of Good and other articles; the book comments on the influence on Murdoch of Simone Weil, Plato, Kant and Wittgenstein; and on her historical approach; and the book introduces the contributions in the present volume.
Stephen C. Angle
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195385144
- eISBN:
- 9780199869756
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195385144.003.0006
- Subject:
- Philosophy, General
Despite the differences between Michael Slote and Iris Murdoch—and between them and the book's Neo-Confucian sources—Slote and Murdoch make excellent conversation partners on the subject of harmony, ...
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Despite the differences between Michael Slote and Iris Murdoch—and between them and the book's Neo-Confucian sources—Slote and Murdoch make excellent conversation partners on the subject of harmony, offering important insights and clarifications, while at the same time they are rewarded with ideas from the Confucian tradition that complement or improve their own views. The key points of dialogue include the following: (1) Drawing on Slote, Confucians can distinguish between particularist and aggregative caring, which solves a long-standing problem about caring for strangers. (2) Drawing on the Confucians, Slote can better-ground his idea of “balanced caring” by recognizing the reverence we should have for what the Neo-Confucians call universal coherence. (3) After a few qualifications, Murdoch can help us (and Slote) to see how reverence for universal coherence can indeed play needed justificatory and motivational roles, but (4) Murdoch's appeal to a transcendent notion of Good needs either serious modification or rejection. Finally, (5) both Slote and Murdoch can learn from the Neo-Confucians about the proper ways in which we should value ourselves.Less
Despite the differences between Michael Slote and Iris Murdoch—and between them and the book's Neo-Confucian sources—Slote and Murdoch make excellent conversation partners on the subject of harmony, offering important insights and clarifications, while at the same time they are rewarded with ideas from the Confucian tradition that complement or improve their own views. The key points of dialogue include the following: (1) Drawing on Slote, Confucians can distinguish between particularist and aggregative caring, which solves a long-standing problem about caring for strangers. (2) Drawing on the Confucians, Slote can better-ground his idea of “balanced caring” by recognizing the reverence we should have for what the Neo-Confucians call universal coherence. (3) After a few qualifications, Murdoch can help us (and Slote) to see how reverence for universal coherence can indeed play needed justificatory and motivational roles, but (4) Murdoch's appeal to a transcendent notion of Good needs either serious modification or rejection. Finally, (5) both Slote and Murdoch can learn from the Neo-Confucians about the proper ways in which we should value ourselves.
Stephen C. Angle
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195385144
- eISBN:
- 9780199869756
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195385144.003.0008
- Subject:
- Philosophy, General
How is it possible that a sage can act with ease? According to the Analects, Confucius was able to “follow his heart's desire without overstepping the bounds” by the time he reached age seventy. The ...
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How is it possible that a sage can act with ease? According to the Analects, Confucius was able to “follow his heart's desire without overstepping the bounds” by the time he reached age seventy. The chapter explores what Wang Yangming means when he says that sages have a “mature commitment” and the relation this bears to his famous doctrine of “the unity of knowledge and action.” This interpretation then provides the grounding both for a novel understanding of Wang Yangming's philosophy itself, and the key to Neo-Confucianism's insightful account of moral perception. The chapter draws on contemporary philosophers like Murdoch and Blum to help flesh out the Neo-Confucian picture, including showing how Murdoch's famous example of a mother and her daughter-in-law (M and D) can help us to better understand the critical Neo-Confucian orientation of “looking for harmony.”Less
How is it possible that a sage can act with ease? According to the Analects, Confucius was able to “follow his heart's desire without overstepping the bounds” by the time he reached age seventy. The chapter explores what Wang Yangming means when he says that sages have a “mature commitment” and the relation this bears to his famous doctrine of “the unity of knowledge and action.” This interpretation then provides the grounding both for a novel understanding of Wang Yangming's philosophy itself, and the key to Neo-Confucianism's insightful account of moral perception. The chapter draws on contemporary philosophers like Murdoch and Blum to help flesh out the Neo-Confucian picture, including showing how Murdoch's famous example of a mother and her daughter-in-law (M and D) can help us to better understand the critical Neo-Confucian orientation of “looking for harmony.”
Peter Middleton
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780226290003
- eISBN:
- 9780226290140
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226290140.003.0007
- Subject:
- Literature, American, 20th Century Literature
This chapter discusses how four poets made use, or may have done so, of specific articles from Scientific American, a magazine that deliberately set out to provide the public with sufficient ...
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This chapter discusses how four poets made use, or may have done so, of specific articles from Scientific American, a magazine that deliberately set out to provide the public with sufficient information about scientific developments to contribute to democracy. Sometimes a poet only later acknowledges it as a source, as in the case of Rae Armantrout’s poem “Natural History,” which critiques sociobiology. The chapter speculates whether Frank O’Hara’s famous poem about the sun was written in response to a specific Scientific American article and concludes that the circumstantial evidence is not strong enough. Jackson Mac Low’s poems in Stanzas for Iris Lezak make use of several articles from Scientific American. The chapter argues that his acrostic proceduralism is an original mode of inquiry by which he exposes hidden strata in scientific texts, and exposes norms of poetic communication. Robert Duncan explicitly cites a diagram in an article on human evolution in the Scientific American in his poem “Osiris and Set,” which is shown to be responsive not only to that passage in the article, but also to the general mood of an issue of the magazine full of advertisements for advanced nuclear weaponry.Less
This chapter discusses how four poets made use, or may have done so, of specific articles from Scientific American, a magazine that deliberately set out to provide the public with sufficient information about scientific developments to contribute to democracy. Sometimes a poet only later acknowledges it as a source, as in the case of Rae Armantrout’s poem “Natural History,” which critiques sociobiology. The chapter speculates whether Frank O’Hara’s famous poem about the sun was written in response to a specific Scientific American article and concludes that the circumstantial evidence is not strong enough. Jackson Mac Low’s poems in Stanzas for Iris Lezak make use of several articles from Scientific American. The chapter argues that his acrostic proceduralism is an original mode of inquiry by which he exposes hidden strata in scientific texts, and exposes norms of poetic communication. Robert Duncan explicitly cites a diagram in an article on human evolution in the Scientific American in his poem “Osiris and Set,” which is shown to be responsive not only to that passage in the article, but also to the general mood of an issue of the magazine full of advertisements for advanced nuclear weaponry.
Iris Murdoch
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199289905
- eISBN:
- 9780191728471
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199289905.003.0002
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy, Moral Philosophy
This chapter focuses on the first publication of Chapter 1 on Heidegger that Iris Murdoch left unpublished at her death: An introduction to Heidegger’s Being and Time (1927). Topics include: the ...
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This chapter focuses on the first publication of Chapter 1 on Heidegger that Iris Murdoch left unpublished at her death: An introduction to Heidegger’s Being and Time (1927). Topics include: the starting point of philosophical thought; time; contingency; states of mind; Dasein; equipment (Zeug); truth; phenomenology; logos; moods; value and morality. Connections and comparisons are drawn with Wittgenstein.Less
This chapter focuses on the first publication of Chapter 1 on Heidegger that Iris Murdoch left unpublished at her death: An introduction to Heidegger’s Being and Time (1927). Topics include: the starting point of philosophical thought; time; contingency; states of mind; Dasein; equipment (Zeug); truth; phenomenology; logos; moods; value and morality. Connections and comparisons are drawn with Wittgenstein.
Martha Nussbaum
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199289905
- eISBN:
- 9780191728471
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199289905.003.0005
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy, Moral Philosophy
Focusing on The Black Prince, this chapter investigates the complexities of Murdoch’s view of erotic love.
Focusing on The Black Prince, this chapter investigates the complexities of Murdoch’s view of erotic love.
Margaret Holland
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199289905
- eISBN:
- 9780191728471
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199289905.003.0010
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy, Moral Philosophy
One of the notable themes in Iris Murdoch’s philosophical work is her focus on the role of inner moral activity, particularly her use of the concept of ‘moral attention.’ Through an examination of ...
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One of the notable themes in Iris Murdoch’s philosophical work is her focus on the role of inner moral activity, particularly her use of the concept of ‘moral attention.’ Through an examination of Murdoch’s comments on the roles social convention and neurosis play as obstacles to moral awareness, this chapter sheds light on Murdoch’s suggestion that moral attention both reduces choices and increases freedom. Murdoch’s distinction between fantasy and imagination is discussed in the context of their relation to moral freedom. Finally, the relation Murdoch sees between imagination and freedom provides the context for understanding her suggestion that an improved quality of attention diminishes one’s choices.Less
One of the notable themes in Iris Murdoch’s philosophical work is her focus on the role of inner moral activity, particularly her use of the concept of ‘moral attention.’ Through an examination of Murdoch’s comments on the roles social convention and neurosis play as obstacles to moral awareness, this chapter sheds light on Murdoch’s suggestion that moral attention both reduces choices and increases freedom. Murdoch’s distinction between fantasy and imagination is discussed in the context of their relation to moral freedom. Finally, the relation Murdoch sees between imagination and freedom provides the context for understanding her suggestion that an improved quality of attention diminishes one’s choices.
Roger Crisp
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199289905
- eISBN:
- 9780191728471
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199289905.003.0011
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy, Moral Philosophy
The chapter begins with a discussion of Murdoch’s preference for attention to detail over general moral theory. An example of heroic action is then provided to facilitate such attention, and it is ...
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The chapter begins with a discussion of Murdoch’s preference for attention to detail over general moral theory. An example of heroic action is then provided to facilitate such attention, and it is discussed in the light of utilitarianism, Kantian ethics, and virtue ethics. Problems with each approach are explained against the background of Murdoch’s emphasis on the importance of nobility or moral value, and the chapter concludes that a central issue in philosophical ethics must be whether the appearance of such value is veridical.Less
The chapter begins with a discussion of Murdoch’s preference for attention to detail over general moral theory. An example of heroic action is then provided to facilitate such attention, and it is discussed in the light of utilitarianism, Kantian ethics, and virtue ethics. Problems with each approach are explained against the background of Murdoch’s emphasis on the importance of nobility or moral value, and the chapter concludes that a central issue in philosophical ethics must be whether the appearance of such value is veridical.
Julia Driver
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199289905
- eISBN:
- 9780191728471
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199289905.003.0012
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy, Moral Philosophy
This chapter explores Murdoch’s views attacking principle based ethics and argues that, while her concerns point to genuine problems for some principle based approaches, particularism is the wrong ...
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This chapter explores Murdoch’s views attacking principle based ethics and argues that, while her concerns point to genuine problems for some principle based approaches, particularism is the wrong lesson to take away from these concerns. When Murdoch rejects theory, she is really rejecting a kind of methodology that approaches ethical issues and problems in an antiseptic and streamlined way. For her, the antidote to this form of theorizing was ‘experience.’ However, ‘experience’ doesn’t require actually living through moral problems oneself. Rather, it simply requires the agent to carefully reflect on a variety of moral issues, but consider those moral issues in a full, rich, context rather than via stripped down implausible scenarios.Less
This chapter explores Murdoch’s views attacking principle based ethics and argues that, while her concerns point to genuine problems for some principle based approaches, particularism is the wrong lesson to take away from these concerns. When Murdoch rejects theory, she is really rejecting a kind of methodology that approaches ethical issues and problems in an antiseptic and streamlined way. For her, the antidote to this form of theorizing was ‘experience.’ However, ‘experience’ doesn’t require actually living through moral problems oneself. Rather, it simply requires the agent to carefully reflect on a variety of moral issues, but consider those moral issues in a full, rich, context rather than via stripped down implausible scenarios.
Lawrence Blum
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199289905
- eISBN:
- 9780191728471
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199289905.003.0013
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy, Moral Philosophy
Visual metaphors—attention, perception, seeing, looking, and vision—play a central role in Murdoch’s moral philosophy and moral psychology. This chapter distinguishes three importantly distinct ...
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Visual metaphors—attention, perception, seeing, looking, and vision—play a central role in Murdoch’s moral philosophy and moral psychology. This chapter distinguishes three importantly distinct phenomena that Murdoch fails consistently to mark: (1) a conscious and successful perception of moral reality (often called “attention”); (2) a focused act of attention that contributes to structuring the world of value as seen by an individual agent, but which can be distorted so that it is not focused on moral reality; (3) the habitual and unselfconscious way of taking in the world around us that has been structured by various forces, including but not limited to (1) and (2). In her account of why people fail to grasp moral reality, Murdoch privileges individual psychological obstacles (illusion, fantasy, self-centered distortion) but neglects social forms of obstacles-stereotypes about race- or class-based groups, for example-that also contribute to (3) and distort moral perception.Less
Visual metaphors—attention, perception, seeing, looking, and vision—play a central role in Murdoch’s moral philosophy and moral psychology. This chapter distinguishes three importantly distinct phenomena that Murdoch fails consistently to mark: (1) a conscious and successful perception of moral reality (often called “attention”); (2) a focused act of attention that contributes to structuring the world of value as seen by an individual agent, but which can be distorted so that it is not focused on moral reality; (3) the habitual and unselfconscious way of taking in the world around us that has been structured by various forces, including but not limited to (1) and (2). In her account of why people fail to grasp moral reality, Murdoch privileges individual psychological obstacles (illusion, fantasy, self-centered distortion) but neglects social forms of obstacles-stereotypes about race- or class-based groups, for example-that also contribute to (3) and distort moral perception.
