Seeing Reality in Light of Love: An Analysis of Murdochian Love

Abstract

Murdoch’s The Sovereignty of Good is often interpreted as suggesting that love requires recognising the individual reality of one’s beloved. However, through a closer reading, I argue that Murdoch’s characterization of love is more nuanced. Specifically, I show that, due to ambiguity in her writing, Murdoch leaves the exact relationship between love and the perception of reality unclear. In this paper, I begin by unpacking this ambiguity. Then, I propose that this ambiguity allows for two possible kinds of interpretations of her view on love: the objective view, and the positive light view. Finally, I argue that the positive light view offers a better interpretation of Murdoch’s position, concluding that love, while rooted in reality, also exceeds it and transcends it.