The Visionary Aspects of Iris Murdoch’s Philosophy

Abstract

It is not unusual to describe Iris Murdoch as a ‘visionary’ or to imply such a description. For example, I used the term in The Moral Vision of Iris Murdoch¹ and others have spoken of her as trying to ‘“get us to see” an alternative’,² to ‘persuade us that the picture should be changed’;³ and as offering an ‘imaginative picture, largely old yet very refreshing’.⁴ All of these phrases suggest a new ‘vision’, yet, despite the frequency with which such terms have been applied to Murdoch, little attention has been given to what exactly is being claimed. This essay will redress this omission and interrogate three possible interpretations of Murdoch as a ‘visionary’. First, a comparative understanding: ‘visionary’ used in preference to another term, for example ‘visionary’ rather than ‘philosopher’. Second, ‘visionary’ used to describe someone who offers a new insight or perspective or enables new issues to come to the fore or old issues to be seen anew. Third, drawing on its esoteric and religious connotations, ‘visionary’ as akin to ‘prophet’. In this final reading a visionary does not just offer new insight, but claims that new insights require new ways of living and constitute an imperative to action. This essay will take each of these possible understandings of visionary in turn and consider how far they apply to Murdoch.