The Elements and Patterns of Being

Donald Cary Williams (1899-1983) was professor of philosophy at UCLA from 1930 to 1939 and then at Harvard until his retirement in 1967. He was the author of The Ground of Induction (Harvard, 1947) and many essays, some of which were collected in Principles of Empirical Realism (C. C. Thomas, 1966).A. R. J. Fisher is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Manchester. He received his PhD from Syracuse University in 2012. He specializes in Metaphysics and the History of Analytic Philosophy.

• Introduction 1: The Duty of Philosophy (c.1965) 2: The Elements of Being (1953) 3: Universals and Existents (1960) 4: Universal Concepts and Particular Processes (1962) 5: How Reality is Reasonable (1974) 6: Necessary Facts (1963) 7: Dispensing with Existence (1962) 8: The Sea Fight Tomorrow (1951) 9: The Myth of Passage (1951) 10: The Nature of Time (1966) 11: The Shape of Time (1968) 12: The Bugbear of Fate (1974)

This timely collection, judiciously selected and expertly edited by A. R. J. Fisher, gives us Donald C. Williams at his very best. It makes available his enduringly important contributions to three key issues—the proper business of philosophy, the problem of universals, and the nature of time—which are (or should be) the subject matter of lively current debates. Showing all Williams's eloquence and flair, these essays make it a pleasure to be instructed. We especially gain from Fisher's rescue of unpublished material fit to stand alongside the classic pieces, and his provision of a most useful scene-setting Introduction.