The Time of the Angels: Platonic Elements in Iris Murdoch-Good for Nothing and Love for Nothing

초록

This article explores the interplay between philosophy and fiction in Iris Murdoch's The Time of the Angels, arguing that the search for love is the animating force through which the Platonic Good becomes ethically operative in a post-theological age. While Murdoch preserves the metaphysical sovereignty of the Good, she reinterprets it through the human practice of attention and selfless love, thereby transforming abstract moral philosophy into lived ethical experience. The essay situates the novel within Murdoch's broader philosophical corpus, particularly The Sovereignty of Good, to show how her fictional worlds dramatise the moral struggle to perceive reality without the guarantees of faith or reason. By examining the notion of "love for nothing", the paper reveals Murdoch's creation of a new moral logic that unites metaphysical aspiration with psychological realism. In doing so, it illuminates Murdoch's distinctive contribution to post-war moral thought and to the continuing dialogue between philosophy and literature.

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