'One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors' PlatoAn intriguing introduction to the philosopher widely acknowledged as the founder of western thought.

Bernard Williams is one of the world's most eminent philosophers. He is a Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford and is currently Professor of Philosophy at the University of California, Berkeley. A Fellow of the British Academy and an Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, he is the author of many books, including MORALITY (1993) and MAKING SENSE OF HUMANITY (1995).