Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- 1 Introduction
- Part I Contexts and possibilities
- Part II Texts
- 4 The Real Rights of Man, Thomas Spence, 1775
- 5 An Essay on the Right of Property in Land, William Ogilvie, 1782
- 6 Enquiry concerning Political Justice and Its Influence on Morals and Happiness, William Godwin, 1798
- 7 The Effects of Civilization on the People in European States, Charles Hall, 1805
- 8 A Lay Sermon Addressed to the Higher and Middle Classes on the Existing Distresses and Discontents, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, 1817
- 9 Report to the County of Lanark, Robert Owen, 1821
- 10 A Few Doubts as to the Correctness of Some Opinions Generally Entertained on the Subjects of Population and Political Economy, ‘Piercy Ravenstone’, 1821
- 11 An Inquiry into the Principles of the Distribution of Wealth Most Conducive to Human Happiness; Applied to the Newly Proposed System of Voluntary Equality of Wealth, William Thompson, 1824
- 12 Labour Defended against the Claims of Capital or the Unproductiveness of Capital Proved with Reference to the Present Combinations amongst Journeymen, Thomas Hodgskin, 1825
- 13 Rural Rides, William Cobbett, 1830
- 14 Conclusion
- Notes
- Index
6 - Enquiry concerning Political Justice and Its Influence on Morals and Happiness, William Godwin, 1798
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- 1 Introduction
- Part I Contexts and possibilities
- Part II Texts
- 4 The Real Rights of Man, Thomas Spence, 1775
- 5 An Essay on the Right of Property in Land, William Ogilvie, 1782
- 6 Enquiry concerning Political Justice and Its Influence on Morals and Happiness, William Godwin, 1798
- 7 The Effects of Civilization on the People in European States, Charles Hall, 1805
- 8 A Lay Sermon Addressed to the Higher and Middle Classes on the Existing Distresses and Discontents, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, 1817
- 9 Report to the County of Lanark, Robert Owen, 1821
- 10 A Few Doubts as to the Correctness of Some Opinions Generally Entertained on the Subjects of Population and Political Economy, ‘Piercy Ravenstone’, 1821
- 11 An Inquiry into the Principles of the Distribution of Wealth Most Conducive to Human Happiness; Applied to the Newly Proposed System of Voluntary Equality of Wealth, William Thompson, 1824
- 12 Labour Defended against the Claims of Capital or the Unproductiveness of Capital Proved with Reference to the Present Combinations amongst Journeymen, Thomas Hodgskin, 1825
- 13 Rural Rides, William Cobbett, 1830
- 14 Conclusion
- Notes
- Index
Summary
Not all of Political Justice is relevant to this study. As its title indicates, much of it deals with politics rather than society. Furthermore it is a wide-ranging book, with long sections on mind and ethics. In spite of its length and range, its argument is coherent, though not well organized. The work is divided into eight books. The first three lay the groundwork, treating human nature, ethics, and general principles of government. Book 4 is a miscellany, but it contains arguments against revolution and for political change by means of education and enlightenment. Book 5 discusses politics under the traditional headings of monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy, looking forward to the ‘euthanasia of government’ in the (probably remote) future, recommending representative democracy in the meantime. Book 6 is a defence of free thought and discussion, Book 7 a critique of punishment, which Godwin hopes will one day be abolished. Book 8, our main concern, defends equality of property.
Whereas Ogilvie signified his adherence to the creed of enlightenment in passing, referring occasionally to the spread of science and decline of prejudice, Godwin shouts the faith from almost every page. He makes it abundantly clear to the reader, not only that ‘enlightenment’ has made radical criticism possible for him, but also that he has taken the ideal of enlightenment on board to such an extent as to regard the fearless and iconoclastic pursuit of truth to be one of the highest duties.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Socialism, Radicalism, and NostalgiaSocial Criticism in Britain, 1775-1830, pp. 121 - 145Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1987