--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We need a moral philosophy which can…" description: "\"We need a moral philosophy which can speak significantly of Freud and Marx and out of which aesthetic and political views can be generated. We need a m..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/825/iris-murdoch-993_aesthetic_we-need-a-moral-philosophy-which-can-spe_1336249.png" --- # We need a moral philosophy which can speak significantly… ![“We need a moral philosophy which can speak significantly of Freud and Marx and out of which aesthetic and political views can be generated. We need a moral philosophy in which the concept of love, so rarely mentioned now, can once again be made central.” quote by Iris Murdoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/825/iris-murdoch-993_aesthetic_we-need-a-moral-philosophy-which-can-spe_1336249.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/825/iris-murdoch-993_aesthetic_we-need-a-moral-philosophy-which-can-spe_1336249.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/825/iris-murdoch-993_aesthetic_we-need-a-moral-philosophy-which-can-spe_1336249.png) > “We need a moral philosophy which can speak significantly of Freud and Marx and out of which aesthetic and political views can be generated. We need a moral philosophy in which the concept of love, so rarely mentioned now, can once again be made central.” [Iris Murdoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iris-murdoch/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A moral framework should integrate Freud, Marx, and love to guide aesthetic and political thought. **In simple terms:** Combine psychology, politics, and love in ethics. Key Takeaway Create ethics that unite mind, society, and affection. Themes ethics philosophy politics art love Mood thoughtful hopeful critical Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - academic discourse - policy making - art criticism - personal relationships - social movements Key Concepts psychoanalysis marxism aesthetics humanism Questions to Reflect On - How can love be operationalized in policy? - What tensions arise between Freud and Marx? A Different Perspective May overlook practical implementation in diverse cultures. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Aesthetic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aesthetic/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Made](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/made/) [Marx Aesthetic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/marx-aesthetic-4499876/) [Moral](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moral/) [Moral philosophy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moral-philosophy/) [Morality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/morality/) [Need Moral](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/need-moral-1375231/) [Needs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/needs/) [Philosophy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy/) [Philosophy Speak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy-speak-290894/) [Political](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/political/) [Political view](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/political-view/) [Political views](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/political-views/) [Speak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/speak/) [Views](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/views/) ## Related quotes > [We need a moral philosophy in which the concept of love, so rarely mentioned now by philosophers, can once again be made central.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iris-murdoch/we-need-a-moral-philosophy-in-which-the-concept-of-love-so-rarely/) [Iris Murdoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iris-murdoch/) > [I have argued that a religion or a philosophy cannot speak about facts of the world - if it does, it is now or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-naggum/i-have-argued-that-a-religion-or-a-philosophy-cannot-speak-about/) [Erik Naggum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-naggum/) > [Those who advocate common usage in philosophy sometimes speak in a manner that suggests the mystique of the 'common man.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/those-who-advocate-common-usage-in-philosophy-sometimes-speak-in-a/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [I never want to be that guy spouting off my political views. I mean, they're pretty well known, and it certainly comes out. If…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patterson-hood/i-never-want-to-be-that-guy-spouting-off-my-political-views-i-mean/) [Patterson Hood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patterson-hood/) > [Judicial abuse occurs when judges substitute their own political views for the law.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lamar-s-smith/judicial-abuse-occurs-when-judges-substitute-their-own-political/) [Lamar S. Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lamar-s-smith/) > [As individuals, as families, as neighbors, as members of one community, people of all races and political views are usually decent, kind, compassionate. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-koontz/as-individuals-as-families-as-neighbors-as-members-of-one-community/) [Dean Koontz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-koontz/) > [As I, as a worker, came to know them, the aims of German trade unions were political, and there were a number of various…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fritz-sauckel/as-i-as-a-worker-came-to-know-them-the-aims-of-german-trade-unions/) [Fritz Sauckel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fritz-sauckel/) > [If you're trying to cast the widest possible net to attract the largest selection of men or women, the last thing you should do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-webb/if-you-re-trying-to-cast-the-widest-possible-net-to-attract-the/) [Amy Webb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-webb/) > [I'd say that one area where my political views have remained unchanged is that, I am opposed to the government spying on everybody.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-morello/i-d-say-that-one-area-where-my-political-views-have-remained/) [Tom Morello](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-morello/) > [We must ask the high cadres ... When you suppressed the rights of others to express freely their political views, did you secure your own?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wei-jingsheng/we-must-ask-the-high-cadres-when-you-suppressed-the-rights-of-others/) [Wei Jingsheng](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wei-jingsheng/) > [But actors with political views are a dime a dozen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-hanks/but-actors-with-political-views-are-a-dime-a-dozen/) [Tom Hanks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-hanks/) > [Opens up a whole new view of Beckett. The strong mutual attraction between Beckett and Cunard may help explain the leftist political views he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barney-rosset/opens-up-a-whole-new-view-of-beckett-the-strong-mutual-attraction/) [Barney Rosset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barney-rosset/) > [My mother raised me and there was some painful and difficult times, because she was pursuing a career and also very actively involved in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natasha-richardson/my-mother-raised-me-and-there-was-some-painful-and-difficult-times/) [Natasha Richardson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natasha-richardson/) > [ Once you get into the \[Donald\] Trump stuff, you get people going, "I didn't come here to have my political views bashed." ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-cross/once-you-get-into-the-donald-trump-stuff-you-get-people-going-i-didn/) [David Cross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-cross/) > [You start realizing that maybe you're the one night a month that people have out, and they don't need to hear your political views…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-gardell/you-start-realizing-that-maybe-you-re-the-one-night-a-month-that/) [Billy Gardell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-gardell/) ## More by Iris Murdoch > [Falling out of love is chiefly a matter of forgetting how charming someone is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iris-murdoch/falling-out-of-love-is-chiefly-a-matter-of-forgetting-how-charming/) [Iris Murdoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iris-murdoch/) > [One doesn't have to get anywhere in a marriage. It's not a public conveyance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iris-murdoch/one-doesn-t-have-to-get-anywhere-in-a-marriage-it-s-not-a-public/) [Iris Murdoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iris-murdoch/) > [“I think being a woman is like being Irish... Everyone says you're important and nice, but you take second place all the time.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iris-murdoch/i-think-being-a-woman-is-like-being-irish-everyone-says-you-re/) [Iris Murdoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iris-murdoch/) > [Art is the final cunning of the human soul which would rather do anything than face the gods.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iris-murdoch/art-is-the-final-cunning-of-the-human-soul-which-would-rather-do/) [Iris Murdoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iris-murdoch/) > [The sending of a letter constitutes a magical grasp upon the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iris-murdoch/the-sending-of-a-letter-constitutes-a-magical-grasp-upon-the-future/) [Iris Murdoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iris-murdoch/) > [emotions really exist at the bottom of the personality or at the top. in the middle they are acted. this is why all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iris-murdoch/emotions-really-exist-at-the-bottom-of-the-personality-or-at-the-top/) [Iris Murdoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iris-murdoch/) > [I have used the word "attention," which I borrow from Simone Weil, to express the idea of a just and loving gaze directed upon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iris-murdoch/i-have-used-the-word-attention-which-i-borrow-from-simone-weil-to/) [Iris Murdoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iris-murdoch/) > [Starting a novel is opening a door on a misty landscape; you can still see very little but you can smell the earth and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iris-murdoch/starting-a-novel-is-opening-a-door-on-a-misty-landscape-you-can-still/) [Iris Murdoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iris-murdoch/) > [Art and morality are, with certain provisos…one. Their essence is the same. The essence of both of them is love. Love is the perception…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iris-murdoch/art-and-morality-are-with-certain-provisos-one-their-essence-is-the/) [Iris Murdoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iris-murdoch/) > [being homosexual doesn't determine a man's whole character any more than being heterosexual does.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iris-murdoch/being-homosexual-doesn-t-determine-a-man-s-whole-character-any-more/) [Iris Murdoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iris-murdoch/) > [All artists dream of a silence which they must enter, as some creatures return to the sea to spawn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iris-murdoch/all-artists-dream-of-a-silence-which-they-must-enter-as-some/) [Iris Murdoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iris-murdoch/) > [“Oh if only I could take my mother away and never know of these things again. But it was impossible, the machine would go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iris-murdoch/oh-if-only-i-could-take-my-mother-away-and-never-know-of-these-things/) [Iris Murdoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iris-murdoch/) > [We defend ourselves by descriptions and tame the world by generalizing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iris-murdoch/we-defend-ourselves-by-descriptions-and-tame-the-world-by-generalizing/) [Iris Murdoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iris-murdoch/) > [“I'm sorry I was awful. I'm so full of terrors.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iris-murdoch/i-m-sorry-i-was-awful-i-m-so-full-of-terrors/) [Iris Murdoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iris-murdoch/) > [I live, I live, with an absolutely continuous sense of failure. I am always defeated, always. Every book is the wreck of a perfect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iris-murdoch/i-live-i-live-with-an-absolutely-continuous-sense-of-failure-i-am/) [Iris Murdoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iris-murdoch/) [Explore all 306 Iris Murdoch quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iris-murdoch/) ## More Aesthetic quotes > [You feed yourself. Make sure you have all the information, whether it's aesthetic, scientific, mathematical, I don't care what it is. Then you walk…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/you-feed-yourself-make-sure-you-have-all-the-information-whether-it-s/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [“Beauty in the European sense has always had a premeditated quality to it. We've always had an aesthetic intention and a long-range plan. That's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/beauty-in-the-european-sense-has-always-had-a-premeditated-quality-to/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [All efforts to render politics aesthetic culminate in one thing: war.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-benjamin/all-efforts-to-render-politics-aesthetic-culminate-in-one-thing-war/) [Walter Benjamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-benjamin/) > [Design certainly has a cosmetic, aesthetic aim. It always aims at making things beautiful. But relevance is just as important. I often say, 'If…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yves-behar/design-certainly-has-a-cosmetic-aesthetic-aim-it-always-aims-at/) [Yves Behar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yves-behar/) > [I don't think I was ever thinking critically about my aesthetic, I think it's enough when you're little just to understand that you can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tavi-gevinson/i-don-t-think-i-was-ever-thinking-critically-about-my-aesthetic-i/) [Tavi Gevinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tavi-gevinson/) > [I'm kind of still down with Virg Woolf on this one: "women must kill the aesthetic ideal through which they themselves have been 'killed'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lidia-yuknavitch/i-m-kind-of-still-down-with-virg-woolf-on-this-one-women-must-kill/) [Lidia Yuknavitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lidia-yuknavitch/) > [Virtue is as little to be acquired by learning as genius; nay, the idea is barren, and is only to be employed as an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-schopenhauer/virtue-is-as-little-to-be-acquired-by-learning-as-genius-nay-the-idea/) [Arthur Schopenhauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-schopenhauer/) > [There is a certain aesthetic pleasure in trying to imagine the unimaginable and failing, if you are a reader.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-s-byatt-2/there-is-a-certain-aesthetic-pleasure-in-trying-to-imagine-the/) [A. S. Byatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-s-byatt-2/) > [I try to get the hip-hop aesthetic, most times without an MC. I don't use a rapper or a DJ to give it the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-glasper/i-try-to-get-the-hip-hop-aesthetic-most-times-without-an-mc-i-don-t/) [Robert Glasper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-glasper/) > [It's so important what you're doing in your life. It's tremendously important to the work, and no aesthetic theories take that into account.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-maus/it-s-so-important-what-you-re-doing-in-your-life-it-s-tremendously/) [John Maus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-maus/) > [It is not necessary to have an extravagant food budget in order to serve things with variety and tastefully cooked. It is not necessary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-schaeffer/it-is-not-necessary-to-have-an-extravagant-food-budget-in-order-to/) [Edith Schaeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-schaeffer/) > [In reality no food is valued solely for its nutritive power and no garment or house solely for the protection it affords against cold…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-von-mises/in-reality-no-food-is-valued-solely-for-its-nutritive-power-and-no/) [Ludwig von Mises](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-von-mises/) > [Art is realistic when it strives to express an ethical ideal. Realism is striving for truth, and truth is always beautiful. Here the aesthetic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrei-tarkovsky/art-is-realistic-when-it-strives-to-express-an-ethical-ideal-realism/) [Andrei Tarkovsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrei-tarkovsky/) > [I had always wanted to expand to beauty, but I knew I wanted to be able to translate my design aesthetic in an authentic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-ronson/i-had-always-wanted-to-expand-to-beauty-but-i-knew-i-wanted-to-be/) [Charlotte Ronson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-ronson/) > [I wanted the press to become something of a movement. Not a movement committed to a particular 'ism', but a gathering together of writers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-metcalf/i-wanted-the-press-to-become-something-of-a-movement-not-a-movement/) [John Metcalf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-metcalf/) [Browse all 953 Aesthetic quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aesthetic/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We need a moral philosophy which can speak significantly of Freud and Marx and out of which aesthetic and political views can be generated. 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