Wisdom And Philosophy

A Phenomenological Analysis of the Structure of the “Self” and a Critique of Voluntarism in the Thought of Jiddu Krishnamurti (With an Emphasis on the Paradox of Time and the Feasibility of a Mutation in Consciousness)

Document Type : Research Paper

Author

مهدی قهرمان

Associate Professor, Department of Islamic Teachings, Sahand University of Technology, Tabriz, Iran

https://doi.org/10.22054/wph.2026.91982.2388
Abstract
Employing a phenomenological and analytical approach, this study explores the structure of the “self” and provides a radical critique of the concept of voluntarism within the intellectual framework of Jiddu Krishnamurti. The central argument of the article is predicated on the premise that the “self” is not a fixed, transcendental substance, but rather a cumulative, psychological construct born of time, memory, and past experiences, which possesses an inherently contradictory and fragmenting nature. The research demonstrates that any “will to change” originating from this conditioned center inevitably resorts to “psychological time” and creates the false duality of the “observer and the observed,” thereby merely reproducing and reinforcing the very same problematic structure. Consequently, all moral systems, prevailing methodologies of self-improvement, and volitional efforts toward “becoming” are evaluated as the subtle strategies of the “self” to perpetuate its own survival. Krishnamurti’s proposed alternative is a fundamental transition from the paradigm of “gradual change” to “instantaneous perception.” This paradigmatic shift is actualized solely through “choiceless awareness”—that is, the completely unmediated and non-judgmental observation of “what is”—which ultimately culminates in “psychological death” (the radical severance of attachment to the accumulation of the past) and the genesis of creative intelligence and a centerless love. Finally, by evaluating the criticisms leveled against this perspective from the standpoints of analytical philosophy, psychoanalysis, and sociology, the article underscores the central claim that a profound, non-volitional transformation of the individual is the sole necessary prerequisite for the genesis of any authentic and enduring social change.

Keywords

Jiddu Krishnamurti
phenomenology of the self
voluntarism
psychological time
choiceless awareness
Subjects
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Wisdom And Philosophy
Volume 22, Issue 85
Winter 2026
Pages 211-244

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