An Iris Murdoch Walk

Iris Murdoch was a notable philosopher and novelist, who lived in Oxford. For this Think Human Festival walk, join us to visit the places where she lived and worked.

Image of author Iris Murdoch

Iris Murdoch was a notable philosopher and novelist, who lived in Oxford, attending Somerville College as an undergraduate and later teaching philosophy at St Anne’s College. She had many exciting and sustaining relationships with notable Oxford people, such as Franz Steiner, Frank Thompson, her husband John Bayley and Philippa Foot, Mary Midgeley and Elizabeth Anscombe. She was a youthful member of the Communist Party in Oxford and lived in a variety of homes in Oxford.

Meeting outside Corpus Christi College, Merton Street at 14.00, this walk revisits places where she lived and worked. We will visit her home in Charlbury Road where for many years she wrote her letters, novels and philosophical works. Pubs like The Rose and Crown and the Lamb and Flag, where she met with friends and talked philosophy, politics and personal issues. Somerville College, where she was an undergraduate with Philippa Foot, and St Anne’s College where she taught philosophy in a lively way. Along the way, Gary Browning, author of Why Iris Murdoch Matters and Iris Murdoch and the Political will share thoughts on Murdoch’s thinking and writing. All questions will be answered. Come along and share the world of Iris Murdoch.


Contact us

Laura Baldock & Jess Wiseman

thinkhuman@brookes.ac.uk