Why did Bernard Williams think personal projects and relationships matter in moral philosophy?

Bernard Williams argued that personal projects and relationships are essential to moral philosophy because they provide life with its meaning. He contended that ethical theories emphasizing strict impartiality or universal validity—such as utilitarianism and the tradition of Immanuel Kant—fundamentally undermine an individual's integrity.1

For Williams, the ambition to transcend one's own point of view in favor of impersonal moral standards is misguided and potentially self-deceived. He believed that practical reasons for action must be internal, deriving from motives a person already possesses rather than from abstract, universal rules. By attempting to eliminate the "perspectival peculiarities" of an individual's life, such theories ignore the contingency and complexity of human existence. Consequently, Williams maintained that moral philosophy must accommodate the personal point of view, as it is through these specific commitments and relationships that individuals define their lives and motivations.1