SA born Athol Williams awarded Oxford University distinction

18 July 2017 9:57 AM

South African poet and social philosopher, Athol Williams, received a distinction for his thesis at Oxford University in the UK.

Speaking to CapeTalk's Kieno Kammies, Williams says his thesis focused on how a prosperous and just society should look like and what should be done to achieve that.

He says he identified corporations as key players in having a just society. He argues that the corporation has a moral obligation to do so.

My professors have told me that its a very ambitious task I've set for myself and if I am to pull it off it will be something very special.
— Athol Williams, poet and social philosopher

If you are a corporation operated in South Africa during the Apartheid, you have a moral debt which you haven't paid to society.
— Athol Williams, poet and social philosopher

If you haven't paid this moral debt effectively, you are operating on immoral bases and the profit you make is unethical profit.
— Athol Williams, poet and social philosopher

Williams is among the first to earn Masters degrees from five of the top universities in the world (including Harvard, the London School of Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of the Witwatersrand).

To hear more of this interview with Athol Williams, listen below:

This article first appeared on CapeTalk : SA born Athol Williams awarded Oxford University distinction

Written by: Lengwadishang Ramphele