Essays and Reviews: 1959–2002

Front Cover
Princeton University Press, Jan 19, 2014 - Philosophy - 456 pages

The first collection of popular reviews and essays from distinguished philosopher Bernard Williams

Bernard Williams was one of the most important philosophers of the past fifty years, but he was also a distinguished critic and essayist with an elegant style and a rare ability to communicate complex ideas to a wide public. This is the first collection of Williams's popular essays and reviews. Williams writes about a broad range of subjects, from philosophy to science, the humanities, economics, feminism, and pornography.

Included are reviews of major books such as John Rawls’s Theory of Justice, Richard Rorty’s Consequences of Pragmatism, and Martha Nussbaum’s Therapy of Desire. But many of these essays extend beyond philosophy, providing an intellectual tour through the past half century, from C. S. Lewis to Noam Chomsky. No matter the subject, readers see a first-class mind grappling with landmark books in "real time," before critical consensus had formed and ossified.

 

Selected pages

Contents

1 Plato Today
3
2 English Philosophy since 1900
5
3 Thought and Action
8
An External View Prism 1960
17
5 The Four Loves
24
6 Discourse on Method
26
Lesprit laïc BBC Radio 3 talk Listener 1961
28
8 What Is Existentialism? BBC World Service talk broadcast in Vietnamese 1962
35
39 Philosophical Explanations
187
Arguments for and against the Existence of God
197
Decensorship in Britain 19601982
200
42 Consequences of Pragmatism Essays 19721980
204
43 The Collected Papers of Bertrand Russell vol I Cambridge Essays 188899
216
44 Reasons and Persons
218
A Philosophical Essay
224
On the Ethics of Concealment and Revelation
226

9 Sketch for a Theory of the Emotions
38
10 Sense and Sensibilia
40
11 The Concept of a Person
45
12 Two Faces of Science BBC Radio 3 talk in the series Personal View Listener 1963
48
13 The English Moralists
52
Protest Reform and Revolution Lecture in celebration of the foundation of Birkbeck College 1968
55
15 Has God a Meaning? Question 1968
70
The Analytical Heritage
75
17 Immanuel Kant
77
18 A Theory of Justice
82
19 Beyond Freedom and Dignity
87
A Critique of Artificial Reason
90
Twelve Essays
101
22 The Socialist Idea
104
23 Anarchy State and Utopia
107
24 The Ethics of Fetal Research
115
25 The Moral View of Politics BBC Radio 3 talk in the series Current Trends in Philosophy Listener 1976
119
26 The Life of Bertrand Russell
125
27 Reflections on Language
133
28 The Selfish Gene
140
Why Plato Banished the Artists
142
30 The Logic of Abortion BBC Radio 3 talk Listener 1977
146
31 On Thinking
152
32 Rubbish Theory
157
Moral Choice in Public and Private Life
161
34 Logic and Society and Ulysses and the Sirens
165
35 The Culture of Narcissism
169
36 Religion and Public Doctrine in England
173
37 Nietzsche on Tragedy
179
A Study in Moral Theory
184
47 Choice and Consequence
231
Studies in Social and Cultural History
236
49 Ordinary Vices
241
The Inside Story of the Belgrano Affair
246
The Education of a Militant Mind
252
52 A Matter of Principle
256
53 The View from Nowhere
261
54 What Hope for the Humanities? Times Educational Supplement 1987
267
55 The Society of Mind
274
56 Whose Justice? Which Rationality?
283
57 Intellectuals
288
58 Contingency Irony and Solidarity
295
The Making of the Modern Identity
301
60 The Need to Be Sceptical Times Literary Supplement 1990
311
Dilemmas of Identity in Contemporary Life
318
62 Realism with a Human Face
320
63 Political Liberalism
326
64 Inequality Reexamined
332
Theory and Practice in Hellenistic Ethics
339
66 Only Words
345
67 The Limits of Interpretation
352
68 On Hating and Despising Philosophy London Review of Books 1996
363
69 The Last Word
371
70 Wagner and the Transcendence of Politics New York Review of Books 2000
388
71 Why Philosophy Needs History London Review of Books 2002
405
Acknowledgments
413
Acknowledgments to Copyright Holders
414
Index
415
Copyright

Other editions - View all

Essays and Reviews

Full view - 1860
Essays and Reviews

Full view - 1860
Essays and Reviews: 1959–2002
Bernard Williams
Limited preview - 2015
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Common terms and phrases

A. J. Ayer abortion Alasdair MacIntyre analytical philosophy answer argument basic believe Bertrand Russell called certainly Chomsky Christian claim conception concerned course criticism culture demands Descartes discussion distinction equality ethical explain expressed fact freedom give Hegel human idea important instance intellectual interesting interpretation involved issues John Rawls justice kind language least less liberal MacIntyre Mary Midgley matter means merely metaphysical modern moral Nagel nature Nietzsche Nietzsche’s notion Nozick objective one’s outlook Parfit Parsifal particular perhaps person philosophy Plato political pornography present principle problem question rational Rawls Rawls’s reason relation Richard Rorty Rorty Rorty’s Russell’s scepticism scientific seems sense simply social society sort style supposed theory Theory of Justice things Thomas Nagel thought tion tradition true truth trying Umberto Eco understanding University utilitarian values Wagner Wittgenstein writing

About the author (2014)

Bernard Williams held Chairs of Moral Philosophy at Cambridge, Berkeley, and Oxford. He died in 2003.

Bibliographic information

TitleEssays and Reviews: 1959–2002
AuthorBernard Williams
ContributorMichael Wood
Editionillustrated, reprint, revised
PublisherPrinceton University Press, 2014
ISBN1400848393, 9781400848393
Length456 pages
Subjects ›  › 

Philosophy / Essays
Philosophy / History & Surveys / Modern
  
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