The Philosophy of Iris Murdoch
Workshop, Thursday, 4 June (14:30–18:45) + Friday, 5 June 2026 (10:00–18:00)
Iris Murdoch is celebrated in the English-speaking world as an important and inspiring philosopher. In Germany, however, she has only recently begun to receive greater attention. Our workshop brings together renowned scholars from the UK, the US, and Europe to discuss the philosophical significance of Iris Murdoch. On the first day of the workshop, we will discuss chapters from an ongoing book project by Anil Gomes (Oxford University). On the second day, various themes from Iris Murdoch's work will be addressed and discussed in individual presentations.
Programme
Thursday (June 4, 2026)
14:00h Arrival and Welcome (Nora Kreft and Paulus Kaufmann, both LMU)
14:30h Intro Anil Gomes (Oxford)
15:00h Anil Gomes: ‘Privacy, Perfection, and the Philosophy of Mind’ with a comment by Cathy Mason (CEU), Response and Discussion
16:15h Coffee Break
16:30h Anil Gomes: ‘Iris Murdoch on God, Good, and the Limits of Science’ with a comment by Quinn While (Harvard), Response and Discussion
17:45h End of Day 1
19:00h Dinner
Friday (June 5, 2026)
10:00h Carla Bagnoli (Modena & Reggio Emilia): ‘Just Looking: On the Intricacies of Love and Justice’
11:00h Coffee Break
11:15h Tony Milligan (Sheffield): ‘Sacrificial Virtues: Iris Murdoch’s Departure from Aristotelian Virtue Ethics’
12:15h Coffee Break
12:30h Eva-Maria Düringer and Silvia Caprioglio Panizza (both Tübingen): ‘In Defence of Consolation’
13:30h Lunch
14:30h Paulus Kaufmann (LMU): ‘Seeing the World: Some Reflections on Murdoch Buddhism’
15:30h Coffee Break
15:45h Justin Broackes (Brown): ‘Perception and Reality: The Good and the Real in Plato, Freud and Murdoch‘
16:45h Coffee Break
17:00h Christian Kietzmann (Leipzig): ‘We were 'all eyes': the transformative potential of art Murdoch's The Bell‘
18:00h End of Day 2
Organizers
Paulus Kaufmann (LMU)
Nora Kreft (LMU)
Venue
Center for Ethics and Philosophy in Practice
Room M 210 (LMU room finder)
LMU Main Building, Geschwister-Scholl-Platz 1, 80539 Munich
