Iris Murdoch’s unsettling secrets of a good life
When I move my “self” out of the way, I see reality as it is.
“The chief requirement of the good life is to live without any image of oneself,” Iris Murdoch, a novelist and philosopher boldly said.
She observed a “relentless ego” interferes with a good life.
Murdoch observed a good life is ensured when we look beyond the self. It’s about seeing ourselves for what we are and others for who they really are. It’s about acting without thinking of how it looks.
Responding to life, not reacting to the demands of your ego.Lose self-obsession to get back the the “good” path.
Living “without the image of oneself” means we should stop getting caught up in how we think we should be and focus on how we can open our eyes to reality now. It doesn’t mean denying yourself.
It means seeing beyond the self. Acknowledge it, but don’t let it dictate your perception. Become the observer of your own mind.
“The self, the place where we live, is a place of illusion. Goodness is connected with the attempt to see the unself, to see and to respond to the real world in the light of a virtuous consciousness. This is the non-metaphysical meaning of the idea of transcendence to which philosophers…
