Metaphysics as a Guide to Morals

First edition. Tall thick 8vo. Pp. [viii], 520. Black cloth boards, lettered in gilt to spine. Jacket illustration by Tom Phillips. Summary, acknowledgements, index.

Murdoch's magnum opus, Metaphysics as a Guide to Morals, is based on the 1982 Gifford Lectures given at the University of Edinburgh and represents the summation of her work as a philosopher. It surveys the development of Western philosophy, from Plato to Schopenhauer and Wittgenstein, and takes issue with new trends such as structuralism, arguing the case for a moral view in metaphysical argument.

"Remarkable... Iris Murdoch has once again put us all in her debt." –Alasdair MacIntyre, The New York Times Book Review