Introduction: Evil and the Writings of Iris Murdoch

This chapter outlines the purpose and rationale for studying Iris Murdoch’s engagement with evil. The conflation of Murdoch’s fiction and philosophy in early scholarship led to a bias against her picture of evil. Yet Murdoch’s writings present a detailed and nuanced picture of evil, questioning moral absolutes and inviting readers to explore the complexities of human behaviour and moral failure. Her works resonate with theological, philosophical, historical, sociological and literary discourses, both contemporary and historical, to address the pervasive evil she observed. Murdoch’s writings embrace ambiguity to challenge dualistic moral thinking and encourage a more pluralistic understanding of good and evil.