Miranda Fricker / Adrian Moore

12.30-2pm | Thursday 19 October 2006
Room T203, Lakatos Building, LSE

Speakers
Miranda Fricker, Senior Lecturer in Philosophy, Birkbeck College, University of London
Adrian Moore, Professor of Philosophy, Oxford University

This dialogue will explore a variety of inter-connected themes from the work of Bernard Williams: his ‘initial’ conception of reasons for action, the ethical relativism that grows out of that conception; his controversial insistence on the idea of an ‘absolute conception’ of reality; his argument for the possibility of ethical knowledge and the provocative idea that such knowledge can be destroyed by reflection; his interest in the limits of philosophy and its border with history, and the genealogical method that is designed to negotiate that border. Running through these themes is the question of William’s relation to other philosophers, most notably Hume and Nietzsche. Finally, the participants will reflect on the nature of Williams’ positive legacy.