Godwin Publishes An Enquiry Concerning Political Justice

In February 1793, William Godwin published An Enquiry Concerning Political Justice in two volumes in London. Drawing on traditions of British rational dissent and Enlightenment philosophy, Godwin argued that government perpetuates dependence and ignorance and would become unnecessary as human reason expanded. He proposed that private judgment and public discussion could replace political institutions, and that human society was capable of indefinite improvement. The work influenced radical political thought in Britain during the 1790s and prompted direct responses, including Thomas Malthus 1798 Essay on the Principle of Population, which argued that population growth would constrain the perfectibility Godwin envisioned.