Bernard Williams
Luck plays a part in what we are held responsible for: morality cannot ignore it.
Life
Bernard Williams (1929-2003), born in Westcliff-on-Sea, was a British philosopher who taught at Cambridge, Oxford and Berkeley. He criticised the idea that morality can be reduced to a single theory, such as utilitarianism or Kantianism, that would ignore a person's integrity. He introduced the notion of moral luck: the moral standing of an act depends partly on circumstances beyond one's control.
Main works
Essays including "Moral Luck": we are judged by outcomes that partly escape our control.
Criticises systematic moral philosophy and defends a return to concrete ethical practices.
Rereads the ancient Greeks to challenge the idea of simple moral progress.
Defends the value of sincerity and truthfulness in an age of suspicion.
Positions
click a row to see the evidenceHe rejects both utilitarianism and Kantian duty: they ignore personal integrity and the projects that give a life its shape.
Williams, Utilitarianism: For and Against (1973)
He doubts morality has an absolute foundation outside human life, while accepting that ethical concepts can still carry knowledge.
Williams, Ethics and the Limits of Philosophy (1985)
Life gets its point from our own deep projects, not from a given meaning; an endless life would lose them.
Williams, "The Makropulos Case" (1973)