by Iris Murdoch

Iris Murdoch (1919-99) was born in Dublin to Anglo-Irish parents, but the Murdoch family moved to London while Iris was still an infant, causing the author to regard herself thereafter as “a kind of exile, a displaced person” (Murdoch in Conradi, p. 10). After studying classics and philosophy at Oxford and Cambridge, Murdoch worked as a civil servant during World War II and its aftermath, assisting literally displaced persons in Belgium and Austria before returning to England to teach philosophy at Oxford University. While working in continental Europe, Murdoch encountered the philosophical movement known as existentialism, the main principle of which is “existence precedes essence,” positing the absolute freedom of the individual to create meaning in a world of otherwise absurd meaninglessness. Murdoch took exception to existentialism’s picture of the human being “as a brave naked will” independent of...