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An Enquiry Concerning Political Justice, and It s Influence on General Virtue and Happiness, By William Godwin, Volume I only, Printed for G.G. J. & J. Robinson, London, 1793, 378 pp, First Quarto Edition. Full leather binding measuring 11.5 x 9 , 4to. In fair condition. Moderate wear to extremities with scuffing along edges and corners. Desiccated edges with rubbing present along boards. Front board detached. Tail abraded with cord loosening. Overall scuffed and dull in appearance. Old hand ownership of William Hood Hermans (?) dated 1815 on flyleaf. Small patch of worming prsernt at bottom edge of rear pastedown and fly. Text block nicely preserved with light toning at margins, scattered instances of age staining and minor foxing throughout. Finger soiling present at the margins. Binding of text-block remains intact. Please see photos. Political Justice argues that humanity will inevitably progress: it argues for human perfectibility and enlightenment. William Godwin (1756 1836) proposes a society in which human beings use their reason to decide the best course of action. The very existence of governments, even those founded through consensus, demonstrates that people cannot yet regulate their conduct by the dictates of reason. The work begins with a list of eight principles which are expounded throughout the work. The object of moral and political discourse is how to maximize the amount and variety of pleasure and happiness. Injustice and violence produced the demand for government, but due to its propensity toward war and despotism and its perpetuation of inequality, government has come to embody and perpetuate injustice. Government's chief object is security, and it achieves this through abridging individual independence. This prevents the cultivation of the individual's happiness. One should aim to maintain general security, while minimizing such damages. Justice must aim at producing the greatest sum of happiness and it requires impartiality. Justice is universal. One's duty is to fulfill one's capacity to bring about the general advantage. One's right is to their share to this general advantage. Ordinarily, one's contribution to general advantage should be at their discretion. One's injury to the general good might sometimes warrant political superintendence. One's actions are based on feelings rather than reason. Reason merely allows the comparison and balancing of different feelings. Reason, therefore, allows us to regulate our feelings, making its improvement the best method to improve our social condition. Reason's clarity and strength depend on the cultivation of knowledge. The cultivation of knowledge is unlimited. Therefore, our social condition is capable of perpetual improvement; however, institutions calculated to give perpetuity to any particular mode of thinking, or condition of existence, are harmful. The cultivation of happiness requires that we avoid prejudice and protect freedom of inquiry. It also requires leisure for intellectual cultivation, therefore extreme inequality is to be avoided. FIRST EDITION OF VOLUME I ONLY - INCOMPLETE AS A SET! RAREB1793FXYX - 12/23 FORN-SHELF-0466-BB-2410-HKREV209.
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