Contemporary Cinema and the Philosophy of Iris Murdoch - by Lucy Bolton (Paperback)

About the Book

Bringing together Murdoch's moral philosophy and contemporary cinema to build a dialogue about vision, ethics and love, author Lucy Bolton encourages us to view cinema as a way of studying other worlds and moral journeys.

Book Synopsis

Iris Murdoch was not only one of post-war Britain's most celebrated and prolific novelists - she was also an influential philosopher, whose work was concerned with the question of the good and how we can see our moral worlds more clearly.
Murdoch believed that paying attention to art is a way for us to become less self-centred, and this book argues that cinema is the perfect form of art to enable us to do this. Bringing together Murdoch's moral philosophy and contemporary cinema to build a dialogue about vision, ethics and love, author Lucy Bolton encourages us to view cinema as a way of studying other worlds and moral journeys, and to reflect upon their ethical significance in the world of the film and in our daily lives.

From the Back Cover

Iris Murdoch was not only one of post-war Britain's most celebrated and prolific novelists - she was also an influential philosopher, whose work was concerned with the question of the good and how we can see our moral worlds more clearly. Murdoch believed that paying attention to art is a way for us to become less self-centred, and this book argues that cinema is the perfect form of art to enable us to do this. Bringing together Murdoch's moral philosophy and contemporary cinema to build a dialogue about vision, ethics and love, author Lucy Bolton encourages us to view cinema as a way of studying other worlds and moral journeys, and to reflect upon their ethical significance in the world of the film and in our daily lives. Lucy Bolton is senior lecturer in film studies at Queen Mary University of London.

Review Quotes

[A] pathbreaking, impressive book on moral philosophy and the viewer of film.--Geetha Ramanathan, West Chester University "New Review of Film and Television Studies, Vol. 19, No. 2"

Bolton's work inspires further viewings of the films she discusses, but perhaps its chief quality is that it not only raises questions about spectatorship now altered by the Murdochian vision she embellishes, but it also prompts a great deal of questioning about oneself as a viewer, as well as about the conditions of contemporary culture.--Davina Quinlivan, Kingston University "Film-Philosophy Volume 25, Issue 2"

Iris Murdoch's philosophy has not yet been considered in dialogue with cinema. This original, passionate, and very compelling book corrects this. With abundant clarity and good humour, Lucy Bolton draws Murdoch into debates in Film Philosophy, showing how she sees film reshaping reality, and how for her, art, including cinema, is a way of learning about morality and goodness. Brilliant, versatile readings of contemporary films confirm the vivid interest in returning to Murdoch now.--Professor Emma Wilson, Corpus Christi College, University of Cambridge

Lucy Bolton's careful and inspiring comparative study connects Iris Murdoch's concepts to the philosophical debates of contemporary cinema. [...] Bolton's work explores not only new territories of the potential interrelatedness of film theory and Murdoch's philosophical ideas, but also new approaches to and debates on how we think about the moral function of movies.--Dávid Szőke, University of Szeged "Hungarian Journal of English and American Studies, Vol. 26, No. 1"

This monograph breaks new ground as the first substantial work to both recognise Iris Murdoch's engagement with cinema, and highlight the complementarity of Murdoch's philosophical work to film. Bolton's forging of new interdisciplinary links - with an emphasis on contemporary cinema - makes an accessible yet scholarly advance in this burgeoning field.--Miles Leeson, Director of the Iris Murdoch Research Centre at the University of Chichester

About the Author

Lucy Bolton is Reader in Film Studies at Queen Mary University of London. She is the author of Film and Female Consciousness: Irigaray, Cinema and Thinking Women (2011) and Contemporary Cinema and the Philosophy of Iris Murdoch (2019, EUP) as well as the co-editor of' Lasting Screen Stars: Images that Fade and Personas that Endure (2016). She is co-series editor of EUP's Visionaries series.