On the Method of Historical Philosophizing in the Political Thought of Bernard Williams

The article concentrates on the role of the historical aspect in the political thought of Bernard Williams. Greatly influenced by ancient philosophy and its history, his works reached the main issues of theoretical ethics and political philosophy, and searching for the comprehensive methodological point, via Nietzsche’s genealogy returned to the historical subject in a new capacity. The article considers the historical and methodological convictions of Williams, which become available for understanding through the analysis of the concepts of “making sense”, as well as the “first political question”, the “basic legitimation demand”, political realism and political moralism approaches. The study also includes a comparative perspective and points out the range of unsolved political philosophy issues raised by Williams’s historical understanding argument.

Keywords

political thought, Bernard Williams, historical knowledge, genealogy, political philosophy, political realism, liberalism

Acknowledgment

The reported study was funded by RFBR according to the research project № 20-311-90085 “Political Philosophy of Bernard Williams (1929—2003)”.

Received

12.09.2022

Publication date

30.12.2022

Number of characters

39093

Cite

GOST	Ananieva A. On the Method of “Historical Philosophizing” in the Political Thought of Bernard Williams // ISTORIYA – 2022. – V. 13. – Issue 12 (122). Part 2 [Electronic resource]. URL: https://history.jes.su/S207987840024186-3-1 (circulation date: 17.07.2024). DOI: 10.18254/S207987840024186-3
MLA	Ananieva, Alina "On the Method of “Historical Philosophizing” in the Political Thought of Bernard Williams." ISTORIYA 13.12-2 (122) (2022) DOI: 10.18254/S207987840024186-3
APA	Ananieva A. (2022). On the Method of “Historical Philosophizing” in the Political Thought of Bernard Williams. ISTORIYA 13(12-2 (122)) DOI: 10.18254/S207987840024186-3

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