ABSTRACT
Should we try to understand ourselves better? It seems like a good idea, not least if we want to try to improve morally. Iris Murdoch, however, disagrees. If we want to improve morally, we should be less self-occupied, not more. Introspection tends to lead attentive moral energy, which should be directed outwards, back towards the self. For the few instances in which self-knowledge seems to be morally required, Silvia Caprioglio Panizza sketches four ways of gaining self-knowledge that a Murdochian can easily allow: observing our public behaviour, seeing ourselves through the eyes of others, comparing our perception of objects to the perceptions of others, and acquiring knowledge about our mental states through their transparency. The author will show that these four ways cover a lot of ground, but not all the ground necessary. Introspection must be employed on some occasions. In order not to trip into the pitfalls of self-obsession that Murdoch rightly warns of, the author argues that we should apply a filter to our introspection: the filter of second or third personal loving attention.
