ABSTRACT
This chapter engages with the influence of Jewish thought on Murdoch’s thinking, through both her philosophical and personal encounters. Murdoch’s relationship with Franz Steiner helped her to value differences, to understand the meaning of grief and of loving God. Reading Martin Buber from early in her career, she was challenged to rework her Platonic vision to include the importance of mutuality, encounters, and relationships. Although Buber’s thought had an impact on Murdoch, who devotes an entire chapter to him in MGM, ultimately she did not follow him in fully embracing the ethical significance of relationships and reciprocity, something which, the chapter suggests, would have helped her to develop a more sustained social and political consciousness and to bring ethics and politics closer together.
