Bernard Williams

British moral philosopher who wrote Ethics and the Limits of Philosophy and Shame and Necessity — arguing that systematic ethical theories (utilitarianism and Kantian ethics) fail to do justice to the complexity of moral life, and that integrity and ground projects are central to personal identity.

Introduced integrity as a philosophical concept — the idea that a person's ground projects (commitments that give life meaning) cannot simply be overridden by impartial utilitarian calculation without destroying the person as a moral agent — making Williams the most effective internal critic of systematic moral theory.