[Revised entry by Sophie-Grace Chappell and Nicholas Smyth on January 28, 2023.
Changes to: Main text, Bibliography]
Bernard Williams (1929 – 2003) was a leading influence in philosophical ethics in the latter half of the twentieth century. He rejected the codification of ethics into moral theories that views such as Kantianism and (above all) utilitarianism see as essential to philosophical thinking about ethics, arguing that our ethical life is too untidy to be captured by any systematic moral theory. He was also an important contributor to debates on moral psychology, personal identity, equality, morality and the emotions, and the interpretation…

Originally appeared on Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy Read More