Q0517
“I can only choose within the world I can see, in the…” — Iris Murdoch (The Sovereignty of Good (1970))
Verified English quotation. Primary source: The Sovereignty of Good (1970). Theme: attention.
English
I can only choose within the world I can see, in the moral sense of "see" which implies that clear vision is a result of moral imagination and moral effort.
Source and attribution
The archive attributes this English wording to The Sovereignty of Good (1970) and files it under Platonic Moral Philosophy. That locator distinguishes the passage from loose internet attributions: readers can return to the named work or section to check translation, surrounding argument, and edition-specific wording.
About Iris Murdoch
Iris Murdoch (1919–1999) was an Irish-British philosopher and novelist who revived moral attention to the good against mid-century linguistic narrowness. A student at Oxford and briefly influenced by Sartre, she turned toward Plato.
How to read this passage
Across 4 recurring voices here (notably Simone Weil and Iris Murdoch), attention is framed through Religious Existentialism and Platonic Moral Philosophy. Some passages define attention; others warn how it fails; still others relocate it inside habit, community, or language. This passage enters that discussion through attention, choice, morality.
Concepts in this quote
- Attention
- Attention appears in this archive as a live philosophical concern—not a slogan. These verified English passages show how thinkers treat attention as a problem of judgment, practice, or explanation.
- Choice
- Choice is the hinge of agency: selecting among options under reasons, constraints, and uncertainty.
- Morality
- Morality in philosophy concerns right and wrong, obligation, and the standards by which we judge persons and acts.
How to cite this quotation
APA: Iris Murdoch. (n.d.). I can only choose within the world I can see, in the moral sense of "see" which implies that clear vision is a result of moral imagination and moral effort. In Philosophy Blind Box. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0517
MLA: Iris Murdoch. “I can only choose within the world I….” Philosophy Blind Box, https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0517.
Chicago: Iris Murdoch. “I can only choose within the world I….” Philosophy Blind Box. Accessed 2026. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0517.
Frequently asked questions
What is the source of the quotation “I can only choose within the world I…”?
The passage is attributed to Iris Murdoch, The Sovereignty of Good (1970). The archive attributes this English wording to The Sovereignty of Good (1970) and files it under Platonic Moral Philosophy. That locator distinguishes the passage from loose internet attributions: readers can return to the named work or section to check translation, surrounding argument, and edition-specific wording.
What does Iris Murdoch mean by attention?
Across 4 recurring voices here (notably Simone Weil and Iris Murdoch), attention is framed through Religious Existentialism and Platonic Moral Philosophy. Some passages define attention; others warn how it fails; still others relocate it inside habit, community, or language. This passage enters that discussion through attention, choice, morality.