Q0520
“Anything which alters consciousness in the direction of unselfishness, objectivity and realism…” — Iris Murdoch (The Sovereignty of Good (1970))
Verified English quotation. Primary source: The Sovereignty of Good (1970). Theme: virtue.
English
Anything which alters consciousness in the direction of unselfishness, objectivity and realism is to be connected with virtue.
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
Virtue ethics asks not only which acts are right, but what kind of person one becomes. Courage, justice, temperance, and wisdom are classic Western lists; Confucian ren and yi offer related but distinct vocabularies. This passage enters that discussion through virtue, self, being.
Concepts in this quote
- Virtue
- Virtue names excellences of character—habits of perception and action oriented toward the good.
- Self
- Philosophy quotes about self explore identity, responsibility, and the examined life—from Socrates’ unexamined life to modern phenomenology and existential authenticity.
- Being
- Being appears in this archive as a live philosophical concern—not a slogan. These verified English passages show how thinkers treat being as a problem of judgment, practice, or explanation.
How to cite this quotation
APA: Iris Murdoch. (n.d.). Anything which alters consciousness in the direction of unselfishness, objectivity and realism is to be connected with virtue. In Philosophy Blind Box. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0520
MLA: Iris Murdoch. “Anything which alters consciousness in the direction of….” Philosophy Blind Box, https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0520.
Chicago: Iris Murdoch. “Anything which alters consciousness in the direction of….” Philosophy Blind Box. Accessed 2026. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0520.
Frequently asked questions
What is the source of the quotation “Anything which alters consciousness in the direction of…”?
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 virtue?
Virtue ethics asks not only which acts are right, but what kind of person one becomes. Courage, justice, temperance, and wisdom are classic Western lists; Confucian ren and yi offer related but distinct vocabularies. This passage enters that discussion through virtue, self, being.