Iris Murdoch - Philosophy VS Literature

Dame Jean Iris Murdoch was a British novelist and philosopher. Murdoch is best known for her novels about good and evil, sexual relationships, morality, and the power of the unconscious. Her novels are unique in the sense that they integrate philosophy within the narrative, in The Philosopher's Pupil, the narrator denies knowledge of philosophy saying 'I should mention that I am not a philosopher and cannot offer any commentary or detail'(p83). Of course, in reality, Iris Murdoch does possess a great deal of knowledge of philosophy but, as shown here, is perhaps trying to distance herself and her knowledge from the novel. While philosophical ideas do penetrate The Philosopher's Pupil, particularly ethical notions of morality and good and evil, her novel is not a purely philosophical piece. It is rather her characters not her descriptions or plot that contain philosophical features.

Murdoch outlines the distinctions between literature and philosophy in an interview with Brian Magee, a TV personality who is accredited with bringing philosophy to the general public by means of television for the first time. She suggests that the aim of literature is to mystify, while the aim of philosophy is to clarify. Literature gives a form to our surroundings, surroundings that are seemingly formless. In this way, she says, literature has the potential to cheer us up, to both simplify and find meaning in our chaotic world. While philosophy too aims to give form to the world, Murdoch maintains that it does so in a broader way, constantly coming back to the same forms, such as those highlightes by Plato, and altering them in some way. As Alfred Whitehead, a philosopher, once said "all western philosophy is merely footnotes to Plato". Iris Murdoch seems to agree with this claim, calling the world of philosophy 'tiny', since all the same problems are still there. Literature in comparison, is described by Murdoch as a 'vast and multifarious area'. I agree with this point, though would question whether literature does more than cheer us up by giving form to our surroundings. Literature, in my opinion, can be used as a vessel to pioneer new ideas and can often leave its readers reflecting on the world around them with the added depth and meaning that a novel can project onto what we see and do. In this sense, philosophy is not unlike literature, and as Murdoch says about Philosophy in The Philosopher's Pupil ,'Unless one is a genius, philosophy is a mug's game' (p142), the same could be said about good literature. And in that sense, Iris Murdoch is most certainly a genius.