The Sovereignty of Good

Presents morality not primarily as a matter of making the right decisions, but of learning to see clearly. Murdoch explores how selfishness, fantasy, and desire can distort our perception of reality, suggesting that becoming more moral requires the disciplined practice of attention: learning to perceive other people and the world more truthfully.

Iris Murdoch (1919–1999) was an Irish-British novelist and philosopher; her fiction and her moral philosophy each earned a permanent readership.