Obscenity and Film Censorship An Abridgement of the Williams Report Cambridge Philosophy Classics Series

When it first appeared in 1979, the Williams Report on Obscenity and Film Censorship provoked strong reactions. The practical issues and political principles examined are of continuing interest and remain a crucial point of reference for discussions on obscenity and censorship. Presented in a fresh series livery for the twenty-first century, and with a specially commissioned preface written by Onora O'Neill, illuminating its continuing importance and relevance to philosophical enquiry, this abridged edition of Bernard Williams's Report presents all the main findings and arguments of the full report, central to which is the application of Mill's 'harm principle' and the conclusion that restrictions are out of place where no harm can be reasonably thought to be done.

Preface to this edition Onora O'Neill; Preface; Part I. Background: 1. The Committee's task; 2. The present law; 3. The censorship of films; 4. The situation; Part II. Principles: 5. Law, morality and the freedom of expression; 6. Harms?; 7. Offensiveness; 8. Pornography, obscenity and art; Part III. Proposals: 9. The restriction of publications; 10. The prohibition of publications; 11. Live entertainment; 12. Films; 13. Summary of our proposals.

Bernard Williams (1929–2003) was one of the leading moral philosophers of the twentieth century. He was knighted in 1999 and was Monroe Deutsch Professor of Philosophy at the University of California, Berkeley until his death in 2003.