Williams, Sir Bernard Arthur Owen

▪ 2004

      British philosopher (b. Sept. 21, 1929, Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex, Eng.—d. June 10, 2003, Rome, Italy), sought to revitalize moral philosophy and served on public commissions investigating gambling, drug abuse, social justice, public schools, and obscenity and censorship. In opposition to the positivist and analytic approach to moral philosophy, which held that philosophers have no substantive contribution to make to ethics, Williams adopted a naturalistic position in which he attempted to embed it in history and culture. He opposed both Kantianism and utilitarianism, which both assert that there is a single valid principle of morality, arguing instead that moral life should be investigated as it is experienced rather than in terms of abstract theories. Williams was educated (1946–51) at Chigwell School and Balliol College, Oxford. He taught at the Universities of Oxford, London, and Cambridge, where he was Knightbridge Professor of Moral Philosophy (1967–79) and provost (1979–87) of King's College. After two years (1988–90) at the University of California, Berkeley, Williams returned to Oxford, where he was White's Professor of Moral Philosophy (1990–96). His principal publications included Utilitarianism: For and Against (edited with J.J.C. Smart, 1973), Descartes: A Project of Pure Enquiry (1978), Morality (1972), Problems of the Self (1973), Moral Luck (1981), Shame and Necessity (1993), and Truth and Truthfulness (2002). He also served (1968–86) on the board of the English National Opera, and he was elected a fellow of the British Academy in 1971 and knighted in 1999.

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