Towards an Understanding of Iris Murdoch’s Godless Theology

Yıl 2025, Cilt: 9 Sayı: 2

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Iris Murdoch, a twentieth-century Irish philosopher and novelist best known for her contributions to
ethical theory, argues that philosophy should rest not only on ethics and art but also on religion.
While affirming the indispensability of religion for moral life and ethical reflection, she calls for a
critical re-examination of Christianity—addressing both its institutional practices and its prevailing
conception of God. According to Murdoch, the historical and intellectual trajectory of Western
culture has exposed a personalized, myth-laden understanding of God as detached from reality and
ultimately unsustainable. In response, she advocates the demythologization of traditional
Christianity—which remains bound to this mythological conception of the divine—and its
reconstruction through insights drawn from Eastern traditions, particularly Zen Buddhism. Reenvisioning
religion as what she terms a “Godless Theology”, raises inevitable questions: Is it
philosophically coherent to speak of theology without God? Does the very expression itself not
harbor a paradox? She grounds this theology in Plato’s Idea of the Good, which serves as its
ontological foundation, and reformulates the ontological argument so that it aligns with her broader
philosophical vision. This study argues that Murdoch’s theology, while rejecting the notion of a
personal deity, nevertheless advances an unconventional ontological understanding of deity—one
that, though nontraditional, still constitutes a genuine form of belief. Accordingly, the discussion
considers whether Murdoch’s Godless Theology should be regarded merely as a nominal stance or,
more significantly, as a substantive reconfiguration of faith. This article contributes by
distinguishing nominal from ontological ‘godlessness’ in Murdoch, showing how

Anahtar Kelimeler

Godless Theology , Demythologization , The Idea of the Good , Ontological Argument , Christian Buddhism. , Iris Murdoch

Kaynakça

• Akyüz, Y. (2013). Dostoyevski’nin Eserlerinde Tanrı Problemi. Necmettin Erbakan Üniversitesi İlahiyat Fakültesi Dergisi, 36, 55-82.
• Altorf, M. (2013). Iris Murdoch, or what it means to be a serious philosopher. Revista Internacional de Filosofía, 60, 75-91.