“We do not stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing”*…

… and so we shouldn’t. Ryan Weber (a professor of technical writing who, happily for us, moonlights) is here to help…

More at “‘Descartes Against Humanity’ and Other Games Designed by Famous Philosophers,” from @mcsweeneys.net.

Unrelated, but important: “Help save Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine by signing this petition.”

* George Bernard Shaw (though often mis-attributed to Benjamin Franklin)

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As we play, we might spare a thought for a philosopher whose game would likely be “The Game of Life,” Bernard Williams; he died on this date in 2003. As Knightbridge Professor of Philosophy at the University of Cambridge and Deutsch Professor of Philosophy at the University of California, Berkeley, Williams became known for his efforts to reorient the study of moral philosophy to psychology, history, and in particular to the Greeks. 

His publications include Problems of the Self (1973), Ethics and the Limits of Philosophy (1985), Shame and Necessity (1993), and Truth and Truthfulness (2002).  Gilbert Ryle, one of Williams’s mentors at Oxford University, said that Williams “understands what you’re going to say better than you understand it yourself, and sees all the possible objections to it, and all the possible answers to all the possible objections, before you’ve got to the end of your own sentence.”

Described by Colin McGinn as an “analytical philosopher with the soul of a general humanist,” he was sceptical about attempts to create a foundation for moral philosophy. Martha Nussbaum wrote that he demanded of philosophy that it “come to terms with, and contain, the difficulty and complexity of human life.”

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#analyticPhilosophy #BernardWilliams #culture #Descartes #history #Humanism #humor #Kant #KarlPopper #Life #moralPhilosophy #Nietzsche #philosophy #Sartre
“It is hard to find a #philosopher who writes well. One can list the good stylists on one hand: #BernardWilliams, for the clear frankness of his prose; #StanleyCavell, whose writing self-reflectively folds in on itself like origami; Friedrich #Nietzsche …” aeon.co/essays/how-d...

How David Hume split literatur...
How David Hume split literature from philosophy | Aeon Essays

Hume distrusted literature and worked to discredit character sketches as legitimate forms of philosophy

Aeon
#17Febrero fotografia de mi amiga Llum del #amanecer en #Malvarrosa #Valencia, con esa paz que transmite el vaivén de las olas 😍 y esa magia del sol reflejándose en el mar y en la arena mojada "Nunca hubo una noche o un problema que pudiera vencer al amanecer o la esperanza" #BernardWilliams
Bluesky

Bluesky Social
#29Enero "Nunca hubo una noche o un problema que pudiera vencer al #amanecer o la #esperanza" #BernardWilliams Momentos únicos en #Barcelona a las: 7:44h 7:47h 7:52h 8:02h Tres meses han pasado 😥 #ValenciaNoSeOlvida #ValenciaIndignada #MazónDimisión
Bluesky

Bluesky Social

🧵 4/5

My own feeling is that Parfit's systematic point-of-view-of- the-universe approach is a bad way to think about value and lives worth living and has consequently not been an entirely benign influence on our thinking about ethics.

"Reasons and Persons" was published in 1984, but I would choose the 1985 "Ethics and the Limits of Philosophy" as a key work to read when thinking in general terms about how one should live.

https://www.hup.harvard.edu/books/9780674268586

#Philosophy #MoralPhilosophy #DerekParfit #BernardWilliams #ReasonsAndPersons #EthicsAndTheLimitsOfPhilosophy

🧵 1/5 I was struck by the paragraph on Parfit and Bernard Williams; I'm not sure whether this should the seed for a work of intellectual history or of a novel, but I do know that I would devour either!

Imperfect Parfit - The Philosophers' Magazine

https://philosophersmag.com/imperfect-parfit/

#Philosophy #DerekParfit #BernardWilliams

Imperfect Parfit - The Philosophers' Magazine

Daniel Kodsi and John Maier critically discuss Derek Parfit, as portrayed in a recent biography by David Edmunds.

The Philosophers' Magazine -

If you want to understand why the thought of Bernard Williams matters for our thinking about ethics, this paper by Miranda Fricker could be a good place to start.

bernard_williams_as_a_philosopher_of_ethical_freedom.pdf

https://www.mirandafricker.com/uploads/1/3/6/2/136236203/bernard_williams_as_a_philosopher_of_ethical_freedom.pdf

#Philosophy #BernardWilliams #MirandaFricker #Ethics #EthicalPhilosophy

We grow a little every time we do not take advantage of somebody's weakness.
-- Bernard Williams

#Quotes #BernardWilliams #Compassion #Empathy

#Photography #Panorama #BWCA #RoseFalls #Minnesota

The British philosopher Bernard Williams died just over twenty years ago, but his work continues to challenge and stimulate. His 1985 "Ethics and the Limits of Philosophy" is not only a major work within moral philosophy but also a book that can and should be read by anybody inclined to reflect on human values.

#BernardWilliams #Philosophy