Bernard Williams

Sir Bernard Arthur Owen Williams ( born September 21, 1929 in Westcliff- on-Sea, Essex, † 10 July 2003 in Rome) was an English philosopher. Williams was known primarily as a critic of utilitarianism and generally all systematic approaches in moral philosophy. Much has been discussed his metaethical theming dense ethical terms. He is considered one of the most influential ethicist the second half of the 20th century.

Life

Bernard Williams received the MA degree from the University of Oxford. After service in the Royal Air Force, he held a number of academic positions in England. In 1967 he was Knightsbridge Professor for Moral Philosophy at Cambridge University and from 1979 Head ( Provost ) of King's College. In 1987 he was Sather Professor of Classics, University of California, Berkeley. He returned in 1990 to England to be White's Professor of Moral Philosophy at Oxford, a post that he held until 1996. Then he returned as Professor of Philosophy to Berkeley, where he remained until his death.

Works

• Morality: An Introduction to Ethics, Cambridge University Press, 1972 German: The concept of morality. An Introduction to Ethics, Stuttgart 1985

• German: Problems of the Self. Philosophical Papers 1956-1972, Stuttgart 1978

• German: Descartes. The project of a pure philosophical inquiry, Atheneum Art Museum, Königstein / Ts. 1981, ISBN 3-7610-1012-5

• German: Moral chance. Philosophical Papers 1973-1980, Frankfurt / Main 1984

• German: Ethics and the Limits of Philosophy, translated by Michael Haupt, Red Book, Hamburg 1999, ISBN 3-434-53036-3

• German: shame, guilt and necessity. A revival of ancient concepts of morality, Berlin 2000

• German: Truth and Truthfulness, translated by Joachim Schulte, Suhrkamp, Frankfurt / Main 2003, ISBN 3-518-58369-7