Bernard Williams Quotes
Bernard Williams was a British analytic philosopher and one of the most original and influential moral philosophers of the twentieth century. Holding chairs at Cambridge, Berkeley, and Oxford, he criticized the dominant utilitarian and Kantian traditions for their abstraction from the real lives and characters of moral agents, developing instead a rich analysis of the role of integrity, moral luck, and internal reasons in ethical life. The quotes below are attributed to Bernard Williams, organized by topic.
Bernard Williams on Justice
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Attributed to Bernard Williams:
“Equality is widely accepted as a value, but it is unclear what equality demands.”
Bernard Williams on Truth
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Attributed to Bernard Williams:
“Truthfulness implies a respect for truth.”
Bernard Williams on Virtue
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Attributed to Bernard Williams:
“There can be no good reason for thinking that the moral point of view excludes any other point of view.”
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Attributed to Bernard Williams:
“Moral luck is the experience of being held responsible for what is outside our control.”
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Attributed to Bernard Williams:
“If a man has integrity, his actions express his deepest convictions.”
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Attributed to Bernard Williams:
“There is no Archimedean point in ethics.”