Loving Attention: Buddhaghosa, Katsuki Sekida, and Iris Murdoch on Meditation and Moral Development

Iris Murdoch argues that a central moral capacity is the ability to direct attention justly and lovingly. She examines whether Zen Buddhist meditation, as described by Katsuki Sekida, can strengthen this capacity, expressing both optimism and reservations. The author contends that Murdoch's project would have been better served by drawing on Buddhaghosa's Theravāda instructions for meditating on loving-kindness, compassion, gladness, and equanimity, as these align more closely with her own moral framework.

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Abstract

According to Iris Murdoch, one of our central moral capacities is the capacity to direct our attention in a way that is just and loving. In Metaphysics as a Guide to Morals , Murdoch explores the prospects for strengthening this capacity through engaging in Zen Buddhist practices, particularly zazen meditation as Katsuki Sekida describes it in Zen Training: Methods and Philosophy . Murdoch has a mixed view of whether zazen could really contribute to our moral development, expressing both some optimism and some reservations. I argue that a stronger version of Murdoch’s project, by her own lights, would have looked to the Theravāda Buddhist philosopher Buddhaghosa’s instructions for taking up loving-kindness, compassion, gladness, and equanimity as meditation subjects.