"Art is the final cunning of the human soul which would rather do anything than face the gods"

Iris Murdoch’s statement, “Art is the final cunning of the human soul which would rather do anything than face the gods,” foregrounds the profoundly ambiguous role art plays in our moral and spiritual lives. At its core, the quote captures the concept of art as both a creative triumph and a subtle evasion. Murdoch, a philosopher as well as a novelist, often explored the tension between confronting ultimate truths, represented by “the gods”, and the myriad ways people sidestep such confrontation.

The phrase “final cunning” suggests that the acts of the soul are not always straightforward or honest; instead, they can be characterized by guile, a cleverness that cleverly dodges what is most daunting. Art, in this reading, is not a pure expression of truth or beauty; rather, it is a sophisticated diversion, a creative stratagem that allows us to immerse ourselves in aesthetics, narrative, and the faculties of imagination. Through artistic creation and appreciation, individuals may avoid wrestling with existential questions and uncomfortable truths about themselves, their mortality, and the nature of reality.

To “face the gods” can be seen as a metaphor for confronting the absolute, the transcendent, or moral reality, possibly the demands of conscience, the weight of ethical clarity, or the reality of faith and the divine. Instead of facing these immense and often unsettling realities head-on, the human soul, according to Murdoch, invents art: a space where it can exercise agency, transform suffering, and generate meaning, but always a few degrees removed from ultimate reality.

Underlying the remark is a sense of both admiration and skepticism. Art is revered for its ingenuity and depth, but Murdoch’s words warn that it must not become a perpetual refuge, distracting us from the more arduous task of facing what truly matters beyond ourselves. The challenge lies in using art not as an escape, but as a tool to deepen, rather than replace, our engagement with the transcendent or divine.