{"product_id":"in-the-beginning-was-the-deed-realism-and-moralism-in-political-argument-9780691124308","title":"In the Beginning Was the Deed: Realism and Moralism in Political Argument","description":"\u003cp\u003eBernard Williams is remembered as one of the most brilliant and original philosophers of the past fifty years. Widely respected as a moral philosopher  Williams began to write about politics in a sustained way in the early 1980s. There followed a stream of articles  lectures  and other major contributions to issues of public concern--all complemented by his many works on ethics  which have important implications for political theory. This new collection of essays  most of them previously unpublished  addresses many of the core subjects of political philosophy: justice  liberty  and equality; the nature and meaning of liberalism; toleration; power and the fear of power; democracy; and the nature of political philosophy itself. A central theme throughout is that political philosophers need to engage more directly with the realities of political life  not simply with the theories of other philosophers. Williams makes this argument in part through a searching examination of where political thinking should originate  to whom it might be addressed  and what it should deliver. Williams had intended to weave these essays into a connected narrative on political philosophy with reflections on his own experience of postwar politics. Sadly he did not live to complete it  but this book brings together many of its components. Geoffrey Hawthorn has arranged the material to resemble as closely as possible Williamss original design and vision. He has provided both an introduction to Williamss political philosophy and a bibliography of his formal and informal writings on politics. Those who know the work of Bernard Williams will find here the familiar hallmarks of his writing--originality  clarity  erudition  and wit. Those who are unfamiliar with  or unconvinced by  a philosophical approach to politics  will find this an engaging introduction. Both will encounter a thoroughly original voice in modern political theory and a searching approach to the shape and direction of liberal political thought in the past thirty-five years.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45651922812981,"sku":"ByrdShop_0691124302","price":187.11,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780691124308.jpg?v=1781845439","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/in-the-beginning-was-the-deed-realism-and-moralism-in-political-argument-9780691124308","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}