The Philosophy of Autobiography
The Philosophy of Autobiography

Author: Christopher Cowley

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 2015-10-26

Total Pages: 249

ISBN-13: 022626792X

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This book promises to be the first of its kind: a philosophical investigation of autobiographical writing. All of us are autobiographers at least some of the time, and all of us crave certain kinds of recognition and confirmation from others, just as we fear blame and reproach from those who know us well. The philosophy of autobiography examines this fundamental story-telling process and its place in our lives. As such it straddles a number of long-standing philosophical questions, having to do with the meaning of life, the problems of autonomy and responsibility and authenticity, the nature of self-deception and bad faith, the structure of the self and its existence through time, the question of the reliability and meaning of memory, and the problem of understanding another person and imaginatively identifying with him. The contributors to the volume are mostly philosophers, but many of them have interests outside philosophy and have been informed by research findings from literary theory and from psychiatry. Some of the contributors are also literary theorists, and one of them has even published autobiographical work. Contributors also examine specific autobiographies and diaries, of philosophers and non-philosophers, as well as fictional works using an autobiographical format, in order to explore the philosophical implications and presuppositions of the genre. The result is a most useful and productive interdisciplinary exchange."

The Moral Vision of Iris Murdoch
The Moral Vision of Iris Murdoch

Author: Heather Widdows

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2017-03-02

Total Pages: 284

ISBN-13: 1351885529

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Iris Murdoch's moral philosophy, although highly influential in 20th century moral theory, is somewhat unsystematic and inaccessible. In this work Widdows outlines the moral vision of Iris Murdoch in its entirety and draws out the implications of her thought for the contemporary ethical debate, discussing such aspects of Murdoch's work as the influence of Plato on her conception of The Good, the reality of the human moral experience, the attainment of knowledge of moral values and how art and religion inform the living of the moral life. Examining all of Murdoch's contributions to moral philosophy from her short papers to Metaphysics as a Guide to Morals, Heather Widdows provides an accessible and systematised account of Murdoch's moral concepts and offers a clear and critical exposition of her thought. By clarifying Murdoch's central themes, core ideas and her picture of the moral life, this book enables her work to be more easily understood and so utilised in current debates.

No Motive in Murdoch
No Motive in Murdoch

Author: J. L. Bass

Publisher:

Published: 2018-01-03

Total Pages: 322

ISBN-13: 9780692045220

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Sometimes, the only way to return to life is to face death. Acclaimed New York writer Julia Jarvis is no stranger to crafting stories that leave readers, and publishers, wanting more. But after a sudden rise to the limelight with her bestselling novel Steelhouse, Julia just as quickly finds herself in the middle of a mid-life crisis. Her career and six-year relationship are on the rocks-not to mention being haunted by the gut-wrenching tragedies from a past she's desperately tried to forget. At the urging of her publisher, Julia returns to the one red-light town of Murdoch, Mississippi after twenty years. It was in Murdoch, the hometown of her late husband, Seth Dixon, where she got her start as a newspaper reporter. In a shocking twist of events, Julia found herself as a young writer covering the unsolved murder of high school student Allison Mercer. Then three months later, the murder of high school librarian Betty Ann Stark, wife of Murdoch's prominent mayor, stunned the sleepy town once more. But it's been the mysterious death of Julia's husband Seth that's haunted her the most. Now Julia wonders if she can piece together what really happened in Murdoch decades ago to write her next book-and save her own life.

A Trust Betrayed
A Trust Betrayed

Author: Candace Robb

Publisher: Diversion Books

Published: 2015-08-24

Total Pages: 293

ISBN-13: 1682300056

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The acclaimed author of the Owen Archer Series “lovingly re-creates medieval Edinburgh” in a novel that introduces Scottish sleuth Margaret Kerr (Publishers Weekly). In the spring of 1297, the English army controls lowland Scotland and Margaret Kerr’s husband Roger Sinclair is missing. He had gone to Dundee in autumn, writing to Margaret with a promise to be home for Christmas, but it’s past Easter. He could be caught up in the swelling rebellion against the English—if he’s even alive. When his cousin is murdered on the streets of Edinburgh, Roger’s last known location, Margaret coerces her brother, a priest, to escort her to the city. She finds Edinburgh scarred by war—houses burnt, walls stained with blood, shops shuttered—and the townsfolk simmering with resentment, harboring secrets. Even her uncle, innkeeper Murdoch Kerr, meets her questions with silence. Desperate, Margaret makes alliances that risk both her own life and that of her brother in her search for answers. She learns that war twists love and loyalties, and that, until tested, we cannot know our own hearts, much less those of our loved ones. “Robb’s writing is so rich and historically true that this is a must for all lovers of historical mysteries.” —Historical Novel Society “Thirteenth-century Edinburgh comes off the page cold and convincing, from the smoke and noise of the tavern kitchen to Holyrood Abbey under a treacherous abbot. Most enjoyable.” —The List (Edinburgh)

Reading Iris Murdoch's Metaphysics as a Guide to Morals
Reading Iris Murdoch's Metaphysics as a Guide to Morals

Author: Nora Hämäläinen

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2019-06-01

Total Pages: 286

ISBN-13: 3030189678

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Metaphysics as a Guide to Morals was Iris Murdoch’s major philosophical testament and a highly original and ambitious attempt to talk about our time. Yet in the scholarship on her philosophical work thus far it has often been left in the shade of her earlier work. This volume brings together 16 scholars who offer accessible readings of chapters and themes in the book, connecting them to Murdoch’s larger oeuvre, as well as to central themes in 20th century and contemporary thought. The essays bring forth the strength, originality, and continuing relevance of Murdoch’s late thought, addressing, among other matters, her thinking about the Good, the role and nature of metaphysics in the contemporary world, the roles of art in human understanding, questions of unity and plurality in thinking, the possibilities of spiritual life without God, and questions of style and sensibility in intellectual work.

Ethics in the Wake of Wittgenstein
Ethics in the Wake of Wittgenstein

Author: Benjamin De Mesel

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2019-04-25

Total Pages: 280

ISBN-13: 1351721534

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This book brings together essays from leading scholars who, rather than taking a strictly exegetical approach, attempt to show how discussions in moral philosophy can benefit from Wittgenstein’s later philosophical work. The essays in this volume make the argument that Wittgenstein’s relevance for moral philosophy depends not only on his views about ethics, but also on the methods he introduces, on his views on the nature of philosophy and philosophical problems, and on the insights into language developed in his philosophy. They also focus on the ‘Wittgensteinian tradition’ in moral philosophy and its relation to more mainstream analytic moral philosophy, addressing how several prominent philosophers use these ideas and methods in their work. Ethics in the Wake of Wittgenstein seeks to answer the following question: Can we apply Wittgenstein’s ways of dealing with problems in logic, philosophy of language, epistemology, philosophy of mind, and philosophy of mathematics to moral philosophy as well? It will be of interest to Wittgenstein scholars and those working on current debates in moral philosophy, metaethics, and normative ethics.

A Conviction of Guilt
A Conviction of Guilt

Author: Matthew Z. Lewin

Publisher: Sphere

Published: 2014-02-28

Total Pages: 174

ISBN-13: 0751554588

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The unexplained murder of American PI Murdoch Finnegan at his flat in Belsize Park poses a complex mystery for Horatio T. Parker, chief crime reporter (and secret owner) of the Hampstead Explorer. Not only is the murder apparently motiveless, but it also emerges that in his will Finnegan has left Parker - already a multi-millionaire - a curious house in Golders Green. Parker, slightly distracted by the gorgeous Samantha McDuff (a karate expert with an excruciating handshake), begins a dangerous investigation which leads him back to the horrifying abduction and murder of a little girl in 1970s London. Parker's investigative methods are amusingly eccentric, and the story is enlivened by a Jewish policeman-cum-Talmudic scholar and Parker's chauffeur, a cheeky Cockney ex-cabby. But there is no humour in the story's climax, which plumbs the dark depths of fury and retribution. Originally published under the author name Lew Matthews.