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Bernard Williams on philosophy and history /

This is an edited collection on the work of Bernard Williams (1929-2003) on the history of philosophy. It explores Williams's interpretation of past philosophers; how his engagement with historical texts shaped his own work; how the history of philosophy can be done philosophically; and the rel...

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Bibliographic Details
Other Authors: Ackeren, Marcel van (Editor), Queloz, Matthieu, 1989- (Editor)
Format: eBook
Language:English
Published: Oxford; New York, NY : Oxford University Press, [2025]
Subjects:
Williams, Bernard, > 1929-2003.
Philosophy, Modern > 20th century.
History > Philosophy.
Philosophy > History.
Philosophie > Histoire.
Philosophie > 20e siècle.
Histoire > Philosophie.
Historiography.
HISTORY.
History & Surveys.
PHILOSOPHY.
History > Philosophy
History of philosophy, philosophical traditions.
Philosophy.
Electronic books.
Online Access:Connect to the full text of this electronic book
Table of Contents:
  • Doing history philosophically and philosophy historically / Marcel van Ackeren and Matthieu Queloz
  • Psychology, ethics, and 'ethicized psychology': Bernard Williams on Greek thought and Greek philosophy / Terence Irwin
  • Agamemnon at Aulis: A misfiring example in Williams / Sophie Grace Chappell
  • Bernard Williams on truth and Plato's Republic on justice: What are genealogical arguments good for? / Catherine Rowett
  • The invention of the humanistic discipline: Williams on Plato on philosophy / Marcel van Ackeren
  • Pure enquiry, the absolute conception, and convergence: Bernard Williams in dialogue with Descartes / John Cottingham
  • Getting round the Cartesian circle / Gerald Lang
  • A Humean Williams and a Williamsian Hume / Lorenzo Greco
  • Recasting responsibility: Hume and Williams / Paul Russell
  • The predicament of temporality: Williams's challenges to Kant's practical reason / Carla Bagnoli
  • Genealogy: Williams, Hume, and Nietzsche / P J E Kail
  • Ethics, untimeliness, and Redlichkeit: On the character of Williams's relationship to Nietzsche / David Owen
  • The sense of the past: Williams and Collingwood on humanistic and scientific knowledge / Giuseppina D'Oro and James Connelly
  • Williams's debt to Wittgenstein / Matthieu Queloz and Nikhil Krishnan
  • Why Bernard Williams is a bad example for historians of philosophy / John Marenbon
  • The iniquity of oblivion / Ralph Wedgwood
  • Williams, Berlin, and the vindication problem / Garrett Cullity
  • Serpents in the genealogical garden of Eden: Why Williams's genealogy is excessively historicist and insufficiently historical / Hans-Johann Glock
  • Internal reasons and historical thinking / Ng Geraldine
  • The art of the possible: Williams on political judgement and the historical perspective / Ilaria Cozzaglio and Amanda R Greene
  • A project of 'impure' enquiry: Williams's historical self-consciousness / Miranda Fricker
  • 4. Ethicized Psychology in Plato
  • 5. What Is Wrong with Ethicized Psychology?
  • 6. Ethicized Psychology in Homer?
  • 7. Ethicized Psychology in Thucydides?
  • 8. Will and Freedom
  • 9. Conclusion
  • References
  • 4 Agamemnon at Aulis: A Misfiring Example in Williams
  • 1. Williams's Troublesome Example(s): Karenina, Gauguin, and Moral Luck
  • 2. Agamemnon at Aulis
  • 3. Williams, Fraenkel, Hegel, Nussbaum: Agamemnon Is Innocent
  • 4. Aristotle's Rejection of Agamemnon-Is-Innocent
  • 5. Agamemnon Is Guilty
  • 6. Agamemnon Is Guilty: The Receipts
  • 7. Conclusion
  • References
  • 5 Bernard Williams on Truth and Plato's Republic on Justice: What Are Genealogical Arguments Good For?
  • 1. Bernard Williams on the Genealogy Method
  • 1.1 Vindicatory Genealogy
  • 1.2 Naturalism and Naturalistic Explanation
  • 2. Plato on Justice: A Genealogy? A Naturalistic Genealogy?
  • 2.1 The Republic as a Genealogy of Justice
  • 2.2 Is Plato's Genealogy Naturalistic?
  • 2.3 The Luxurious City: A Naturalistic Genealogy Continued
  • 3. What Questions Can We Answer Using a Genealogy?
  • 3.1. Using Genealogy to Address the 'What Is It?' Question
  • (a) Avoiding the Risk of Essentialism
  • 3.2 Using Genealogy to Address the 'What Is It?' Question
  • (b) Avoiding the Risk of Reductive Explanations
  • 4. Conclusion
  • References
  • 6 The Invention of the Humanistic Discipline: Williams on Plato on Philosophy
  • 1. Williams and Plato-Only a Troubled Relationship?
  • 2. The Dialogue Form
  • 3. Better for This World
  • 4. Limits of Philosophy in Plato
  • 5. Conclusions
  • References
  • Part III ENLIGHTENMENT
  • 7 Pure Enquiry, the Absolute Conception, and Convergence: Bernard Williams in Dialogue with Descartes
  • 1. Why Descartes?
  • 2. The Absolute Conception
  • 3. Convergence
  • 4. Convergence without God?
  • 5. Science and Ethics
  • 6. Conclusion
  • References
  • 8 Getting Round the Cartesian Circle
  • 1. The Problem of the Cartesian Circle
  • 2. Williams's Solution to the Circle
  • 3. Problems with Williams's Solution
  • 4. A New Approach?
  • 5. Hidden Faculties and the Recognition Problem
  • 6. Tackling the Exemption Challenge
  • 7. Is Assent-Compellingness Part of the Solution?
  • 8. Tackling the Redundancy Challenge
  • 9. Mersenne's Challenge
  • 10. A World without Peculiarities
  • References
  • 9 A Humean Williams and a Williamsian Hume
  • 1. Introduction