The Iris Murdoch Society podcast cover image

The Iris Murdoch Society podcast

Lecture: Cora Diamond 'Murdoch off the Map, or Taking Empiricism back from the Empiricists’

Jul 21, 2021
Cora Diamond, leading philosopher, discusses her contributions to Wittgenstein, logic, mind, language, ethics, and the philosophical inquiry into our relation as humans to other animals. Topics include Murdoch's rejection of traditional philosophy, the role of reactive attitudes, the usefulness of concepts and texts, reflection on experience and progress in philosophy, and Quine's naturalism compared to Murdoch's humanistic approach.
49:44

Episode guests

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

  • Iris Murdoch rejects the prevalent methods of analytic philosophy in ethics and employs an empiricism of reflection on human experience.
  • Murdoch criticizes the idea of dictationism in philosophy, emphasizing the need for a more open and flexible approach to ethical inquiry.

Deep dives

Murdoch's Unconventional Philosophical Method

Iris Murdoch's approach to ethics is characterized as being completely off the conventional map of moral philosophy. She rejects the prevalent methods of analytic philosophy, such as relying on intuitions or engaging in empirical scientific research. Instead, she employs an empiricism of reflection on human experience, which is often overlooked in the analytic philosophy tradition. Murdoch's method involves reflecting on the problematic nature of moral concepts, rejecting the assumption that the moral realm can be defined in a simple sentence or two. By challenging the boundaries and assumptions of moral philosophy, Murdoch encourages a more nuanced and reflective approach to ethical thinking.

Get the Snipd
podcast app

Unlock the knowledge in podcasts with the podcast player of the future.
App store bannerPlay store banner

AI-powered
podcast player

Listen to all your favourite podcasts with AI-powered features

Discover
highlights

Listen to the best highlights from the podcasts you love and dive into the full episode

Save any
moment

Hear something you like? Tap your headphones to save it with AI-generated key takeaways

Share
& Export

Send highlights to Twitter, WhatsApp or export them to Notion, Readwise & more

AI-powered
podcast player

Listen to all your favourite podcasts with AI-powered features

Discover
highlights

Listen to the best highlights from the podcasts you love and dive into the full episode