The Importance of Innocence

George Steiner commented in Existentialists and Mystics that Iris Murdoch’s writings present ‘[l]uminous shades of Blake’s “holiness of the minute particular”’. This lecture explores some of the ways in which Murdoch engages with this oft-maligned Romantic visionary, whose works are referenced in her fiction, her letters and her philosophy. Blake and Murdoch share a dialectical moral vision that suggests the necessity for revolutionary violence, seeks an acknowledgement of evil, and invites the individual to attend to the world around them. Dr Daniel Read completed his doctoral studies at Kingston University. This lecture was given at the University of Chichester in February, 2018.