An Enquiry [4th Ed.] Concerning the Principles of Political Justice and Its Influence on General Virtue, Fourth Edition

ADVERTISEMENT. The author has not failed to make use of the opportunity afforded him by the Third Edition, to revise the work throughout. The alterations however that he has made, though numerous, are not of a fundamental nature. Their object has been merely to remove a few of the crude and juvenile remarks, which, upon consideration, he thought himself able to detect, in the book as it originally stood. JULY 1797. (From: Anarchy Archives.)

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The text is taken from my copy of the fourth edition, 1842. This version of Political Justice, originally published in 1793, is based on the corrected third edition, published in 1798. Click here to jump to the table of contents for Volume 1. The table of contents for volume 2 can be found here. INQUIRY CONCERNING POLITICAL JUSTICE AND ITS INFLUENCE ON MORALS AND HAPPINESS. BY WILLIAM GODWIN. THE FOURTH EDITION IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL I. LONDON: J.WATSON, 5 PAUL'S ALLEY, PATERNOSTER ROW. 1842 Few works of literature are held to be of more general use, than those which treat in a methodical and elementary way of the principles of science. But the human mind in every enlighten... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Preface to the Second Edition

PREFACE To THE SECOND EDITION. The reception of the following work has been such as to exceed what the author dared to promise himself. Its principles and reasoning have obtained the attention of the public to a considerable extent. This circumstance he has construed as imposing upon him the duty of a severe and assiduous revisal. Every author figures to himself, while writing, a numerous and liberal attention to his lucubrations: if he did not believe that he had something to offer that was worthy of public notice, it is impossible that he should write with any degree of animation. But the most ardent imagination can scarcely be expected to come in competition with sense. In the present instance, there are many things that now a... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Book 1, Chapter 1 : Introduction

The text is taken from my copy of the fourth edition, 1842. This version of Political Justice, originally published in 1793, is based on the corrected third edition, published in 1798. I will continue adding material until the entire work is on-line. INQUIRY CONCERNING POLITICAL JUSTICE BOOK I OF THE POWERS OF MAN CONSIDERED IN HlS SOCIAL CAPACITY CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Subject of inquiry--of the first book. --Received ideas of political institution. --Propriety of these ideas questioned.--Plan of the first book. THE object proposed in the following work is an investigation concerning that form of public or political society, that system of intercourse and reciprocal action,... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Book 1, Chapter 2 : History of Political Society

CHAP. II. HISTORY OF POLITICAL SOCIETY War.--Frequency of war--among the ancients--among the moderns-- the French--the English--Causes of war.--Penal laws.--Despotism. --Deduction from the whole. THE extent of the influence of political systems will be forcibly illustrated by a concise recollection of the records of political society. It is an old observation that the history of mankind is little else than a record of crimes. Society comes recommended to us by its tendency to supply our wants and promote our well being. If we consider the human species, as they were found previously to the existence of political society, it is difficult not to be impressed with emotions of melancholy. But, though the chief purpose of soc... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Book 1, Chapter 3 : Spirit of Political Institutio...

CHAP. III. SPIRIT OF POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS. Robbery and fraud, two great vises in society-originate, 1, in extreme poverty-2, in the ostentation of the rich-3, in their tyranny-ern- dered permanent-1, by legislation-2, by the administration of law -3, by the manner in which property is distributed. ADDITIONAL perspicuity will be communicated to our view of the evils of political society if we reflect with further and closer attention upon what may be called its interior and domestic history. Two of the greatest abuses relative to the interior policy of nations, which at this time prevail in the world, consist in the irregular transfer of property, either first by violence, or secondly by fraud. If among the inhabitan... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Book 1, Chapter 4 : The Characters of Men Originat...

CHAPTER IV1 THE CHARACTERS OF MEN ORIGINATE IN THEIR EXTERNAL CIRCUMSTANCES. Theory of the human mind.--Subjects of the present chapter--of the next.--Erroneous opinions refuted.--I. Innate principles.--This hypothesis, 1, superflous--2, unsatisfactory--3, absurd.--II. In- stincts.--Examination of this doctrine--of the arguments by which it has been enforced: from the early actions of infants--from the desire of self-preservation--from self-love--from pity.--III. Effects of antenatal impressions and original structure.--Variableness of the characters of men.--Ease with which impressions may be counter- acted.--Form of the infant undetermined.--Habits of men and other animals compared.--Inference.--Importance ... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Book 1, Chapter 5 : The Voluntary Actions of Men O...

Prevailing ideas on this subject.-Its importance in the science of politics. - I. Voluntary and involuntary action distinguished. -ln- ferences. -Opinion of certain religionists on this subject -of certain philosophers. -Conclusion. -II. Self-deception considered -Custom, or habit delineated. -Actions proceeding from this source imperfectly voluntary. -Subtlety of the mind. -Tendency of our progressive im- provements. -Application. -III. Comparative powers of sense and reason. -Nature of sensual gratification. -Its evident inferiority. - Objection from the priority of sensible impressions refuted from analogy -from the progressive power of other impressions -from ex- perience. Inference. -IV. Vulgar errors. -Meanin... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Book 1, Chapter 6 : Of the Influence of Climate

CHAPTER VI OF THE INFLUENCE OF CLIMATE Means by which liberty is to be introduced.-Their efficacy illustrated.- Facts in confirmation of these reasonings.-Inference. Two points further are necessary to be illustrated, in order to render our view of man in his social capacity impartial and complete. There are certain physical causes which have commonly been supposed to oppose an immovable barrier to the political improvement of our species: climate, which is imagined to render the introduction of liberal principles upon this subject in some cases impossible: and luxury, which, in addition to this disqualification, precludes their revival even in countries where they had once most eminently flourished. An answer to both these objec... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Book 1, Chapter 7 : Of the Influence of Luxury

CHAPTER VII OF THE INFLUENCE OF LUXURY The objection stated.-Source of this objection.-Refuted from mutability - from mortality -from sympathy. -The probability of perseverance considered. THE second objection to the principles already established, is derived from the influence of luxury, and affirms "that nations, like individuals, are subject to the phenomena of youth and old age, and that, when a people by effeminacy and depravation of manners have sunk into decrepitude, it is not within the compass of human ability to restore them to vigor and innocence." This idea has been partly founded upon the romantic notions of pastoral life and the golden age. Innocence is not virtue. Virtue demands the active employment of an ardent... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Book 1, Chapter 8 : Human Inventions Susceptible o...

CHAPTER VIII HUMAN INVENTIONS SUSCEPTIBLE OF PERPETUAL IMPROVEMENT Perfectibility of man-instanced, first, in language.-Its beginning.- Abstraction.-Complexity of Language.-Second instance: aphabetical writing.-Hieroglyphics at first universal. -Progressive deviations. -Application. BEFORE we proceed to the direct subject of the present inquiry, it may not be improper to resume the subject of human improvableness, and consider it in a somewhat greater detail. An opinion has been extensively entertained "that the differences of the human species in different ages and countries, particularly so far as relates to moral principles of conduct, are extremely insignificant and trifling; that we are deceived in this respect by dis... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Book 2, Chapter 1 : Introduction

BOOK II PRINCIPALS OF SOCIETY CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Nature of the inquiry.-Connection of politics and morals.- Mistakes to which the inquiry has been exposed.-Distinction between society and government. IN the preceding book we have cleared the foundations for the remaining branches of inquiry, and shown what are the prospects it is reasonable to entertain as to future political improvement. The effects which are produced by positive institutions have there been delineated, as well as the extent of the powers of man, considered in his social capacity. It is time that we proceed to those disquisitions which are more immediately the object of the present work. Political inquiry may be distributed under two heads: first, wha... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Book 2, Chapter 2, Appendix 1

Appendix, No. I. p. 63. OF SUICIDE Motives of suicide: 1, Escape from pain.-Benevolence.- Martyrdom considered. THIS reasoning will throw some light upon the long disputed case of suicide. "Have I a right to destroy myself in order to escape from pain or distress?" Circumstances that should justify such an action, can rarely occur. There are few situations that can exclude the possibility of future life, vigor, and usefulness. It will frequently happen that the man, who once saw nothing before him but despair, shall afterwards enjoy a long period of happiness and honor. In the meantime the power of terminating our own lives, is one of the faculties with which we are endowed; and therefore, like every other faculty, is a subjec... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Book 2, Chapter 2, Appendix 2 : Of Duelling

CHAPTER II OF JUSTICE Appendix, No. II OF DUELING Motives of dueling -1. Revenge. -2. Reputation. - Objection answered. - Illustration. IT may be proper in this place to bestow a moment's consideration upon the trite but very important case of dueling. A short reflection will suffice to set it in its true light. This despicable practice was originally invented by barbarians for the gratification of revenge. It was probably at that time thought a very happy project, for reconciling the odiousness of malignity with the gallantry of courage. But in this light it is now generally given up. Men of the best understanding who lend it their sanction are unwillingly induced to do so, and engage in single combat merely that their ... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Book 2, Chapter 2 : Of Justice

BOOK II CHAPTER II OF JUSTICE Extent and meaning of justice.-Subject of justice: mankind.- Its distribution by the capacity of its subject.- by his usefulness.- Self-love considered.-Family affection.-Gratitude.-Objections: from ignorance-from utility. An exception stated.-Remark.- Degrees of justice.-Application.-Idea of political justice. FROM what has been said it appears, that the subject of our present inquiry is strictly speaking a department of the science of morals. Morality is the source from which its fundamental axioms must be drawn, and they will be made somewhat clearer in the present instance, if we assume the term justice as a general appellation for all moral duty. That this appellation is sufficiently expre... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Book 2, Chapter 3 : Of the Equality of Mankind

BOOK II CHAPTER III OF THE EQUALITY OF MANKIND Physical equality.-Objection.-Answers.-Moral equality.-How limited. -Province of political justice. THE principles of justice, as explained in the preceding chapter, proceed upon the assumption of the equality of mankind. This equality is either physical or moral. Physical equality may be considered either as it relates to the strength of the body or the faculties of the mind. This part of the subject has been exposed to cavil and objection. It has been said "that the reverse of this equality is the result of our experience. Among the individuals of our species, we actually find that there are not two alike. One man is strong, and another weak. One man is wise, and another fo... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Book 2, Chapter 4 : Of Personal Virtue and Duty

BOOK II CHAPTER IV OF PERSONAL VIRTUE AND DUTY Of virtuous action.-Of a Virtuous agent.-Capacity-in inanimate substances -in man.-Inference.-Of benevolent error.-Nature of vise.-Illustrations.-Mutability of the principle of belief.- Complexity in the operation of motives -Deduction.-Of duty.-It is never our duty to do wrong. THERE are two subjects, of the utmost importance to a just delineation of the principles of society, which are, on that account, entitled to a separate examination: the duties incumbent on men living in society, and the rights accruing to them. These are merely different modes of expressing the principle of justice, as it shall happen to be considered in its relation to the agent or the patient. Duty... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Book 2, Chapter 5 : Of Rights

BOOK II CHAPTER V 0F RIGHTS Active rights exploded.-Province of morality unlimited.-Objection.- Consequences of the doctrine of active rights.-Admonition considered.-Rights of kings-of communities.-Passive rights irrefragable.-Of discretion. THE rights of man have, like many other political and moral questions, furnished a topic of eager and pertinacious dispute more by a confused and inaccurate statement of the subject of inquiry than by any considerable difficulty attached to the subject itself. The real or supposed rights of man are of two kinds, active and passive; the right in certain cases to do as we list; and the right we possess to the forbearance or assistance of other men. The first of these a just philosophy w... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Book 2, Chapter 6 : Of the Right of Private Judgme...

BOOK II CHAPTER VI Of the Right of Private Judgment Foundation of virtue. - Human actions regulated: 1, by the nature of things. - 2, by positive institution. - Tendency of the latter: 1, to excite virtue. - Its equivocal character in this respect. - 2, to inform the judgment. - Its inaptitude for that purpose. - Province of conscience considered. - Tendency of an interference with that province.- Unsuitableness of punishment - either to impress new sentiments -- or to strengthen old ones. - Recapitulation. IT has appeared, that the most essential of those rights which constitute the peculiar sphere appropriate to each individual, and the right upon which every other depends as its basis, is the right of private... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Book 3, Chapter 1 : Systems of Political Writers

BOOK III Principles of Government CHAPTER I Systems of Political Writers The question stated. - First hypothesis: government founded in superior strength. - Second hypothesis: government jure divino. - Third hy- pothesis: the social contract. - The first hypothesis examined. - The second. - Criterion of divine right: 1, patriarchal descent - 2, justice HAVING in the preceding book attempted a general delineation of the principles of rational society, it is proper that we, in the next place, proceed to the topic of government. It has hitherto been the persuasion of communities of men in all ages and countries that there are occasions, in which it becomes necessary, to supersede private judgment for the sake o... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Book 3, Chapter 2 : Of the Social Contract

BOOK III Principles of Government CHAPTER II OF THE SOCIAL CONTRACT Queries proposed.- Who are the contracting parties?- What is the form of engagement? Over how long a period does the contract extend? - To how great a variety of propositions?- Can it extend to laws here- after to be made? - Addresses of adhesion considered. Power of a majority. UPON the first statement of the system of a social contract various difficulties present themselves. Who are the parties to this contract? For whom did they consent, for themselves only, or for others? For how long a time is this contract to be considered as binding? If the consent of every individual be necessary, in what manner is that consent to be given ? Is it to b... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Book 3, Chapter 3 : Of Promises

BOOK III Principles of Government CHAPTER III OF PROMISES Promises not the foundation of morality - are absolutely considered, an evil - are of unfrequent necessity. - Imperfect promises unavoidable. - Perfect promises in some cases necessary.-Obligation of promises - of the same nature as the obligation not to invade. another man's property - admits of gradations. - Recapitulation. - Application. THE whole principle of an original contract rests upon the obligation under which we are conceived to be placed to observe our promises. The reasoning upon which it is founded is "that we have promised obedience to government, and therefore are bound to obey." The doctrine of a social contract would never have bee... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Book 3, Chapter 4 : Of Political Authority

BOOK III Principles of Government CHAPTER IV OF POLITICAL AUTHORITY Common deliberation the true foundation of government - proved from the equal claims of mankind - from the nature of our faculties from the object of government - from the effects of common deliberation. - Delegation vindicatcd. - Difference between the doctrine here maintained and that of a social contract. - Remark. HAVING rejected the hypotheses that have most generally been advanced as to the rational basis of a political authority, let us inquire whether we may not arrive at the same object by a simple investigation of the obvious reason of the case, without refinement of system or fiction of process. Government then being first supposed ne... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Book 3, Chapter 5 : Of Legislation

BOOK III Principles of Government CHAPTER V OF LEGISLATION Society can declare and interpret, but cannot enact. - Its authority only executive. HAVING thus far investigated the nature of political functions, it seems necessary that some explanation should be given upon the subject of legislation. "Who is it that has authority to make laws? What are the characteristics of that man or body of men in whom the tremendous faculty is vested of prescribing to the rest of the community what they are to perform, and what to avoid?" The answer to these questions is exceedingly simple: Legislation, as it has been usually understood, is not an affair of human competence. Immutable reason is the true legislator, and her decrees it ... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Book 3, Chapter 6 : Of Obedience

BOOK III Principles of Government CHAPTER VI OF OBEDIENCE Rational obedience not founded in contract. - Kinds of obedience. - Compulsory obedience often less injurious than confidence. -Kinds of authority. - Limitations of confidence. - Reverence to superiors considered. - Government founded in ignorance. THE two great questions upon which the theory of government depends are: Upon what foundation can political authority with the greatest propriety rest? and, What are the considerations which bind us to political obedience? Having entered at length into the first of these questions, it is time that we should proceed to the examination of the second. One of the most popular theories, relative to the foundation... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Book 3, Chapter 7 : Of Forms of Government

BOOK III Principles of Government CHAPTER VI OF Forms of Government Uniformity of the nature of man. - Different degrees in which he possesses information. Imperfect schemes of society estimated. - Mode in which improvements are to be realized. -Inference. THERE is one other topic relative to general principles of government, which it seems fitting and useful to examine in this place. "Is there a scheme of political institution which, as coming nearest to perfection, ought to be prescribed to all nations; or, on the other hand, are different forms of government best adapted to the condition of different nations, each worthy to be commended in its peculiar place, but none proper to be transplanted to another soil?" The... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Book 4, Chapter 1 : Of Resistance

BOOK IV OF THE OPERATION OF OPINION IN SOCIETIES AND INDIVIDUALS CHAPTER I OF RESISTANCE Subject of the fourth book. - First branch of the subject. - Question of resistance stated. - Resistance of a nation. - Ambiguity of the term nation. - Case of a military subjection considered. - Resistance of a majority - of a minority. - Further ambiguity of the term nation. Nature of liberty. - Remark. - Resistance of the individual. HAVING now made some progress in the inquiry originally instituted, it may be proper to look back, and consider the point at which we are arrived. We have examined, in the first place, the powers of man as they relate to the subject of which we treat; secondly, we have delineated the principles... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Book 4, Chapter 2 : Of Revolutions

BOOK IV OF THE OPERATION OF OPINION IN SOCIETIES AND INDIVIDUALS CHAPTER II OF REVOLUTIONS Duty of a citizen as to the constitution of his country. - No scheme of government perfect or final. - Revolutionary measures, during their operation, inimical to independence - and intellectual inquiry. - Period of their operation. - Revolutions accompanied with blood - crude and premature in their effects - uncertain in point of success. - Conviction of the understanding an adequate means of demolishing political abuse. - The progress of conviction not tardy and feeble - not precarious. - Revolutions in some cases to be looked for. THE question of resistance is closely connected with that of revolutions. It may... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Book 4, Chapter 3 : Of Political Associations

BOOK IV OF THE OPERATION OF OPINION IN SOCIETIES AND INDIVIDUALS CHAPTER III Of Political Associations Arguments in their favor. - Answer. - Associations put a part for the whole - are attended with party spirit - declamation - cabal - con- tentious disputes - restlessness - and tumult. - Utility of social com- munication. - Exception in favor of associations. - Another excep- tion. - Conclusion. A QUESTION suggests itself under this branch of inquiry, respecting the propriety of associations among the people at large for the purpose of operating a change in their political institutions. Many arguments have been alleged in favor of such associations. It has been said "that they are necessary to give effect to publi... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Book 4, Chapter 4 : Of Tyrannicide

BOOK IV OF THE OPERATION OF OPINION IN SOCIETIES AND INDIVIDUALS CHAPTER IV Of Tyrannicide Diversity of opinions on this subject. - Argument in its vindication. - The destruction of a tyrant not a case of exception. - Consequences of tyrannicide. - Assassination described. Importance of sincerity. A QUESTION connected with the mode of effecting political melioration, and which has been eagerly discussed among political reasoners, is that of tyrannicide. The moralists of antiquity contended for the lawfulness of this practice; by the moderns it has been generally condemned. The arguments in its favor are built upon a very obvious principle. "Justice ought universally to be administered. Crimes of an inferior descript... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Book 4, Chapter 5, Appendix 1

The text is taken from my copy of the fourth edition, 1842. This version of Political Justice, originally published in 1793, is based on the corrected third edition, published in 1798. BOOK IV OF THE OPERATION OF OPINION IN SOCIETIES AND INDIVIDUALS Appendix, page 148 OF THE CONNECTION BETWEEN UNDERSTANDING AND VIRTUE Can eminent virtue exist unconnected with talents?- Nature of virtue. - It is the offspring of understanding. - It generates understanding. - Illustration from other pursuits - love - ambition - applied. Can eminent talents exist unconnected with virtue? - Argument in the affirmative from analogy - in the negative from the universality of moral speculation - from the nature of vise as founded in ... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Book 4, Chapter 5 : Of the Cultivation of Truth

BOOK IV OF THE OPERATION OF OPINION IN SOCIETIES AND INDIVIDUALS CHAPTER V OF THE CULTIVATION OF TRUTH Source of the aristocratical system. - The opposite principle statcd. - Subject of this chapter - of the next. - Importance of science as con- ducing - to our happiness - to our virtue. Virtue the best gift of man - proved by its undecaying excellence - by its manner of adapting itself to all siuations - cannot be effectually propagated but by a cultivated mind. - Misguided virtue considered. - Importance of science to our political improvement. THAT we may adequately understand the power and operation of opinion in meliorating the institutions of society, it is requisite that we should consider the value an... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Book 4, Chapter 6, Appendix 1 : Illustrations of Sincerity

The text is taken from my copy of the fourth edition, 1842. This version of Political Justice, originally published in 1793, is based on the corrected third edition, published in 1798. BOOK IV OF THE OPERATION OF OPINION IN SOCIETIES AND INDIVIDUALS Appendix I ILLUSTRATIONS OF SINCERITY Question proposed. - Erroneous maxims upon this head refuted. - General principles and theories estimated. - An injurious distinction exposed . - Limitations of sincerity. - Arguments, af~irmative and negative. - Inference. - Conclusion. THERE is an important inquiry which cannot fail to suggest itself in this place. "Universal sincerity has been shown to be pregnant with unspeakable advantages. The enlightened friend of the huma... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Book 4, Chapter 6, Appendix 2 : Of the Mode of Excluding Visit...

Appendix II OF THE MODE OF EXCLUDING VISITORS Its impropriety argued. - Pretended necessity of this practice, 1. to preserve us from intrusion - 2. to free us from disagreeable acquaintance. THIS principle respecting the observation of truth in the common intercourses of life cannot perhaps be better illustrated than from the familiar and trivial case, as it is commonly supposed, of a master directing his servant to say he is not at home. No question of morality can be foreign to the science of politics; nor will those few pages of the present work be found perhaps the least valuable which, here, and in other places,1 are dedicated to the refutation of those errors in private individuals that, by their extensive sway, have perve... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Book 4, Chapter 6 : Of Sincerity

The text is taken from my copy of the fourth edition, 1842. This version of Political Justice, originally published in 1793, is based on the corrected third edition, published in 1798. BOOK IV OF THE OPERATION OF OPINION IN SOCIETIES AND INDIVIDUALS CHAPTER VI OF SINCERITY Its favorable tendencies in respect to - innocence - energy - intellectual improvement - and philanthropy. History - and effects of insincerity. - Sincerity delineated. - Characterof its adherents. IT was further proposed to consider the value of truth in a practical view, as it relates to the incidents and commerce of ordinary life, under which form it is known by the denomination of sincerity. The powerful recommendations attendant upon s... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Book 4, Chapter 7 : Of Free Will and Necessity

CHAPTER VII OF FREE WILL AND NECESSITY Second part of the present book. - Definition of necessity. - Why supposed to exist in the operations of the material universe. - The case of the operations of mind is parallel. - Indi- cations of necessity - in history - in our judge- ments of character - in our schemes of policy - in our ideas of moral discipline. - Objection from the fallibility of our expectations in human conduct. - Answer. - Origin and universality of the sentiment of free will. - The sentiment of necessity also universal. - The truth of this sentiment argued from the nature of volition. - Hypothesis of free will examined. - Self determination. - Indifference. - The will not a distinct faculty. - Free will disadva... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Book 4, Chapter 8 : Inferences from the Doctrine o...

CHAPTER VIII INFERENCES FROM THE DOCTRINE OF NECESSITY Idea it suggests to us of the universe. - Influence on our moral ideas: action - virtue - exertion - persuasion - exhortation - ardor - compla- cence and aversion - punishment - repentance praise and blame - intellectual tranquility. language of necessity recommended. CONSIDERING then the doctrine of moral necessity as sufficiently established, let us proceed to the consequences that are to be deduced from it. This view of things presents us with an idea of the universe, as of a body of events in systematical arrangement, nothing in the boundless progress of things interrupting this system, or breaking in upon the experienced succession of antecedents and consequents. I... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Book 4, Chapter 9 : Of the Mechanism of the Human ...

CHAPTER IX OF THE MECHANISM OF THE HUMAN MIND Nature of Mechanism. - Its classes, material and intellectual. - Material system, or of vibra- tions. - The intellectual system most probable - from the consideration that thought would otherwise be a superfluity - from the established principles of reasoning from effects to causes. - Objections refuted. - Thoughts which pro- duce animal motion may be - I. involuntary - 2. unattended witk consciousness. - The mind cannot have more than one thought at any one time. - Objection to this assertion from the case of complex ideas- from various mental oper- ations - as comparison - apprehension. - Rapidity of the succession of ideas. - Appli- cation. - Duration measured... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Book 4, Chapter 10 : Of Self-love and Benevolence

CHAPTER X OF SELF-LOVE AND BENEVOLENCE Question stated. -- Nature of voluntary action. -- Origin of benevolence. -- Operation of habit -- of opinion. -- Reflex operation of enjoyment. -- Complexity of motives. -- Of malevolence. -- Scheme of self-love incompatible with virtue. -- Conclusion. The subject of the mechanism of the human mind, is the obvious counterpart of that which we are now to examine. Under the former of these topics we have entered, with considerable minuteness, into the nature of our involuntary actions; the decision of the latter will, in a great degree, depend upon an accurate conception of such as are voluntary. The question of self-love and benevolence, is a question relative to the feelings and ideas by wh... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Book 4, Chapter 11 : Of Good and Evil

Definitions. -- Principle of the Stoics examined. -- Pleasure delineated. -- Scale of happiness -- the peasant and artisan -- the man of wealth -- the man of taste -- the man of benevolence. -- Inference. -- System of optimism. -- Errors of this system. -- Mixture of truth. -- Limitations. -- Condition of the universe displayed. -- Ill effects of optimism. -- It is destructive of any consistent theory of virtue -- blunts the delicacy of moral discrimination -- reconciles us to the spectacle of perverseness in others. -- Of persecution. There is no disquisition more essential either in morality or politics than that which shall tend to give us clear and distinct ideas of good and evil, what it is we should desire, and what we should d... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Book 5, Chapter 1 : Introduction

BOOK V OF LEGISLATIVE AND EXECUTIVE POWER CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Retrospect of principles already established. -- Distribution of the remaining subjects. - Sub- ject of the present book. - Forms of govern- ment. - Method of examinations to be adopted. IN the preceding divisions of this work the ground has been sufficiently cleared to enable us to proceed, with considerable explicitness and satisfaction, to the practical detail: in other words, to attempt the tracing out that application of the laws of general justice which may best conduce to the gradual improvement of mankind. It has appeared that an inquiry concerning the principles and conduct of social intercourse is the most important topic upon which the m... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Book 5, Chapter 2 : Of Education, the Education of...

BOOK V Of Legislative and Executive Power CHAPTER II Of Education, the Education of a Prince Nature of monarchy delineated. - School of adversity. - Tendency of superfluity to inspire effeminacy - to deprive us of the benefit of experience - illustrated in the case of princes. - Manner in which they are addressed. -Ineffi- cacy of the instruction bestowed upon them. FIRST then of monarchy; and we will first suppose the succession to the monarchy to be hereditary. In this case we have the additional advantage of considering this distinguished mortal who is thus set over the heads of the rest of his species from the period of his birth. The abstract idea of a king is of an extremely momentous and extraord... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Book 5, Chapter 3 : Private Life of a Prince

BOOK V OF LEGISLATIVE AND EXECUTIVE POWER CHAPTER III PRIVATE LIFE OF A PRINCE Principles by which he is influenced -- irresponsibility -- impatience of control -- habits of dissipation -- ignorance -- dislike of truth -- dislike of justice. -- Pitiable situation of princes. Such is the culture; the fruit that it produces may easily be conjectured. The fashion which is given to the mind in youth, it ordinarily retains in age; and it is with ordinary cases only that the present argument is concerned. If there have been kings, as there have been other men, in the forming of whom particular have outweighed general causes, the recollection of such exceptions has little to do with the question, whether monarchy be, generally speaking,... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Book 5, Chapter 4 : Of a Virtuous Despotism

BOOK V OF LEGISLATIVE AND EXECUTIVE POWER CHAPTER IV OF A VIRTUOUS DESPOTISM Supposed excellence of this form of government controverted -- from the narrowness of human powers. -- Case of a vicious administration -- of a virtuous administration intended to be formed. -- Monarchy not adapted to the government of large states. There is a principle, frequently maintained upon this subject1, which is entitled to impartial consideration. It is granted, by those who espouse it, "that absolute monarchy, from the imperfection of those by whom it is administered, is, for the most part, productive of evil;" but they assert, "that it is the best and most desirable of all forms under a good and virtuous prince. It is exposed," say they, "to the... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Book 5, Chapter 5 : Of Courts and Ministers

BOOK V OF Legislative and Executive Power CHAPTER V OF COURTS AND MINISTERS Systematical monopoly of confidence. - Charac- ter of ministers and their dependents. - Dupticiy of courts. - Venality and corruption. - Universality of this principle. WE shall be better enabled to judge of the dispositions with which information is communicated, and measures are executed, in monarchical countries, if we reflect upon another of the ill consequences attendant upon this species of government, the existence and corruption of courts. The character of this, as well as of every other human institution, arises out of the circumstances with which it is surrounded. Ministers and favorites are a sort of people who have a stat... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Book 5, Chapter 6 : Of Subjects

BOOK V OF Legislative and Executive Power CHAPTER VI Of Subjects Monarchy founded in imposture. - Kings not entitled to superiority - inadequate to the functions they possess. - Means by which the imposture is maintained - i. slendour 2. exaggeration. -imposture generates- 1. indifference to merit - 2. indifference to truth - 3. artificial desires - 4- pusillanimity. - Moral incredulity of monarchical countries. - Injustice of luxury - of the inordinate admiration of wealth. LET US proceed to consider the moral effects which the institution of monarchical government is calculated to produce upon the inhabitants of the countries in which it flourishes. And here it must be laid down as a first princip... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Book 5, Chapter 7 : Of Elective Monarchy

BOOK V OF Legislative and Executive Power CHAPTER VII OF ELECTIVE MONARCHY Disorders attendant on such an election. - Election is intended either to provide a man of great or of moderate talents. Conse- quences of the first, of the second. - Can elective and hereditary monarchy be combined? HAVING considered the nature of monarchy in general, it is incumbent on us to examine how far its mischiefs may be qualified by rendering the monarchy elective. One of the most obvious objections to this remedy is the difficulty that attends upon the conduct of such an election. There are machines that are too mighty for the human hand to conduct; there are proceedings that are too gigantic and unwieldy for human institutions to ... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Book 5, Chapter 8 : Of Limited Monarchy

BOOK V OF LEGISLATIVE AND EXECUTIVE POWER CHAPTER VIII OF LIMITED MONARCHY Liable to most of the preceding objections -- to further objections peculiar to itself. -- Responsibility considered. -- Maxim, that the king can do no wrong. -- Functions of a limited monarch. -- Impossibility of maintaining the neutrality required. -- On the dismission of ministers. -- Responsibility of ministers. -- Appointment of ministers, its importance. -- its difficulties. -- Recapitulation. -- Strength and weakness of the human species. I proceed to consider monarchy, not as it exists in countries where it is unlimited and despotic, but, as in certain instances it has appeared, a branch merely of the general constitution. Here it is only necessary... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Book 5, Chapter 9 : Of a President with Regal Powe...

BOOK V OF LEGISLATIVE AND EXECUTIVE POWER CHAPTER IX OF A PRESIDENT WITH REGAL POWERS Enumeration of powers -- that of appointing to inferior offices -- of pardoning offenses -- of convoking deliberative assemblies -- of affixing a veto to their decrees -- Conclusion. -- The title of king eliminated. -- Monarchial and aristrocratical systems, similarity of their effects. Still monarchy it seems has one refuge left. "We will not," say some men, "have an hereditary monarchy, we acknowledge that to be an enormous injustice. We are not contented with an elective monarchy, we are not contented with a limited one. We admit the office however reduced, if the tenure be for life, to be an intolerable grievance. But why not have kings, as we... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Book 5, Chapter 10 : Of Hereditary Distinction

BOOK V Of Legislative and Executive Power CHAPTER X OF HEREDITARY DISTINCTION Birth considered as a physical cause - as a moral cause. - Education of the great. - Recapitu- altion A PRINCIPLE deeply interwoven with both monarchy and aristocracy in their most flourishing state, but most deeply with the latter, is that of hereditary preeminence. No principle can present a deeper insult upon reason and justice. Examine the new-born son of a peer, and of a mechanic, Has nature designated in different lineaments their future fortune? Is one of them born with callous hands and an ungainly form? Can you trace in the other the early promise of genius and understanding, of virtue and honor? We have been told indeed 'that nature will... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Book 5, Chapter 11 : Moral Effects of Aristocracy

BOOK V Of Legislative and Executive Power CHAPTER XI MORAL EFFECTS OF ARISTOCRACY Nature of aristocracy. - Importance of practical justice. - Species of injustice which aristocracy creates. - Estimate of the injury produced. - Examples. THE features of aristocratically institution are principally two: privilege, and an aggravated monopoly of wealth. The first of these is the essence of aristocracy; the second, that without which aristocracy can rarely be supported. They are both of them in direct opposition to all sound morality, and all generous independence of character. Inequality of wealth is perhaps the necessary result of the institution of property, in any state of progress at which the human mind has yet arrive... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Book 5, Chapter 12 : Of Titles

BOOK V Of Legislative and Executive Power CHAPTER XII OF TITLES Their origin and history. - Their miserable absurdity. - Truth the only adequate reward of merit. THE case of mere titles is so absurd that it would deserve to be treated only with ridicule were it not for the serious mischiefs they impose on mankind. The feudal system was a ferocious monster, devouring, wherever it came, all that the friend of humanity regards with attachment and love. The system of titles appears under a different form. The monster is at length destroyed, and they who followed in his train, and fattened upon the carcasses of those he slew, have stuffed his skin, and, by exhibiting it, hope still to terrify mankind into patience and pusillanim... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Book 5, Chapter 13 : Of the Aristocratical Characte...

BOOK V OF EXECUTIVE AND LEGISLATIVE POWER CHAPTER XIII OF THE ARISTOCRATICAL CHARACTER Intolerance of aristocracy - dependent for its success upon the ignorance of the multitude. - Precautions necessary for its support. - Different kinds of aristocracy. - Aristocracy of the Romans: its virtues - its vises. Aristocratical distribution of property - regulations by which it is maintained - avarice it engenders. - Argument against innovation from the present happy establishment of affairs considered. - Conclusion. ARISTOCRACY, in its proper signification, is neither less nor more than a scheme for rendering more permanent and visible, by the interference of political institution, the inequality of mankind. Aristocracy, l... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Book 5, Chapter 14 : Of the General Features of Dem...

BOOK V OF LEGISLATIVE AND EXECUTIVE POWER CHAPTER XIV GENERAL FEATURES OF DEMOCRACY Definition. - Supposed evils of this form of government - ascendancy of the ignorant - of the crafty - inconstancy - rash confidence - groundless suspicion. - Merits and defects of democracy compared. - Its moral tendency. - Tendency of truth. - Representation. DEMOCRACY is a system of government according to which every member of society is considered as a man, and nothing more. So far as positive regulation is concerned, if indeed that can, with any propriety, be termed regulation, which is the mere recognition of the simplest of all moral principles, every man is regarded as equal. Talents and wealth, wherever they exist, will not fail... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Book 5, Chapter 15 : Of Political Imposture

BOOK V OF PROPERTY CHAPTER XV Of Political Imposture Importance of this topic. - Example in the doctrine of eternal punishment. - Its inutility argued - from history - from the nature of mind. - Second example: the religious sanction of a legislative system. - This idea is, 1. in strict construction impracticable - 2. injurious. - Third example: principle of political order. - Vise has no essential advantage over virtue. - Motives of political im posture. - Effects that attend it. - Situation of the advocates of this system. - Absurdity of their reasonings. All the arguments that have been employed to prove the insufficiency of democracy grow out of this one root, the supposed necessity of deception and prej... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Book 5, Chapter 16 : Of the Causes of War

BOOK V OF LEGISLATIVE AND EXECUTIVE POWER CHAPTER XVI Of the Causes of War Offensive war contrary to the nature of democ- racy. - Defensive war exceedingly rare. - Erron- eousness of the ideas usually annexed to the phrase, our country. - Nature of war delineated. - Insufficient causes of war - the acquiring a healthful and vigorous tone to the public mind - the putting a termination upon private insultss - the menaces or preparations of our neighbors - the dangerous consequences of concession - the vindication of national honor. - Two legitimate causesof war. EXCLUSIVELY of those objections which have been urged against the democratic system, as it relates to the internal management of affairs, th... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Book 5, Chapter 17 : Of the Object of War

BOOK V Of Legislative and Executive Power CHAPTER XVII OF THE OBJECT OF WAR The repelling an invader. - Not reformation - not restraint - not indemnification. - Nothing can be a sufficient object of war that is not a sufficient cause for beginning it. - Reflections on the balance of power. LET us pass, from the causes to the objects of war. As defense is the only legitimate cause, the object pursued, reasoning from this principle, will be circumscribed within very narrow limits. It can extend no further than the repelling the enemy from our borders. It is perhaps desirable that, in addition to this, he should afford some proof that he does not propose immediately to renew his invasion; but this, though desirable... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Book 5, Chapter 18 : Of the Conduct of War

BOOK V Of Legislative and Executive Power CHAPTER XVIII OF THE CONDUCT OF WAR Offensive operations. - Fortifications. - General action. - Stratagem. - Military contributions. - Capture of mercantile vessels. - Naval war. - Humanity. - Military obedience. - Foreign possessions. ANOTHER topic respecting war, which it is of importance to consider in this place, relates to the mode of conducting it. Upon this article, our judgment will be greatly facilitated by a recollection of the principles already established, first, that no war is justifiable but a war purely defensive; and secondly, that a war already begun is liable to change its character in this respect, the moment the object pursued in it becomes in any degr... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Book 5, Chapter 19 : Of Military Establishments and...

BOOK V OF LEGISLATIVE AND EXECUTIVE POWER CHAP. XIX. OF MILITARY ESTABLISHMENTS AND TREATIES A country may look for its defense either to a standing army, or an universal militia. - The former condemned. - The latter objected to, as of pernicious tendency - as unnecessary - either in respect to courage - or discipline. - Of a commander. - Of treaties. - Conclusion. THE last topic which it may be necessary to examine, as to the subject of war, is the conduct it becomes us to observe respecting it, in a time of peace. This article may be distributed into two heads, military establishments, and treaties of alliance. If military establishments in time of peace be judged proper, their purpose may be effected either by c... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Book 5, Chapter 20 : Of Democracy as Connected with...

Book V Of Legislative and Executive Power CHAPTER XX OF DEMOCRACY AS CONNECTED WITH THE TRANSACTIONS OF WAR External affairs are of subordinate consider- ation. - Application. - Further objections to democracy - I. it is unfavorable to secrecy - this proved to be an excellence - 2. its move- ments are too slow - 3. too precipitate. HAVING thus endeavored to reduce the question of war to its true principles, it is time that we should recur to the maxim delivered at our entrance upon this subject, that individuals are everything, and society, abstracted from the individuals of which it is composed, nothing. An immediate consequence of this maxim is that the internal affairs of the society are entitled to our principal ... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Book 5, Chapter 21 : Of the Composition of Governme...

Book V Of Legislative and Executive Power CHAPTER XXI OF THE COMPOSITION OF GOVERNMENT Houses of assets. - This institution unjust. - Deliberate proceeding the proper antidote. - Separartion of legislative and executive power considered. - Superior importance of the latter. - Functions of ministers. ONE Of the articles which has been most eagerly insisted on, by the advocates of complexity in political institutions, is that of 'checks, by which a rash proceeding may be prevented, and the provisions under which mankind have hitherto lived with tranquility, may not be reversed without mature deliberation'. We will suppose that the evils of monarchy and aristocracy are, by this time, too notorious to incline the specula... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Book 5, Chapter 22 : Of the Future History of Polit...

BOOK V OF LEGISLATIVE AND EXECUTIVE POWER CHAP. XXII. OF THE FUTURE HISTORY OF POLITICAL SOCIETIES Quantity of administration necessary to be maintained. -- Objects of administration: national glory -- rivalship of nations. --Inferences: 1. complication of government unnecessary. -- 2.extensive territory superfluous -- 3. constraint, its limitations. -Project of government: police -- defense. THUS we have endeavored to unfold and establish certain general principles upon the subject of legislative and executive power. But there is one interesting topic that remains to be discussed. How much of either of these powers does the public benefit require us to maintain? We have already seen1 that the only legitimate object of po... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Book 5, Chapter 23 : Of National Assemblies

BOOK V OF LEGISLATIVE AND EXECUTIVE POWER CHAP. XXIII. OF NATIONAL ASSEMBLIES They produce a fictitious unanimity -- an un- natural uniformity of opinion. -- Causes of this uniformity. -- Consequences of the mode of decision by vote --1. perversion of reason -- 2. contentious disputes -- 3. the triumph of ignor- ance and vise. -- Society incapable of acting from itself -- of being well conducted by others. -- Conclusion. -- Modification of democracy that results from these considerations. IN the first place, the existence of a national assembly introduces the evils of a fictitious unanimity. The public, guided by such an assembly, must act with concert, or the assembly is a nugatory excrescence. But it is impossible th... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Book 5, Chapter 24 : Of the Dissolution of Governme...

BOOK V OF LEGISLATIVE AND EXECUTIVE POWER CHAP. XXIV. OF THE DISSOLUTION OF GOVERNMENT Political authority of a national assembly-- of juries. -- Consequence from the whole. IT remains for us to consider what is the degree of authority necessary to be vested in such a modified species of national assembly as we have admitted into our system. Are they to issue their commands to the different members of the confederacy? Or is it sufficient that they should invite them to cooperate for the common advantage, and, by arguments and addresses, convince them of the reasonableness of the measures they propose? The former of these might at first be necessary. The latter would afterwards become sufficient.1 The Amphictyonic council of... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Book 6, Chapter 1 : General Effects of the Politic...

BOOK VI OF OPINION CONSIDERED AS A SUBJECT OF POLITICAL INSTITUTION CHAP. I. GENERAL EFECTS OF THE POLITICAL SUPERINTENDENCE OF OPINION Arguments in favor of this superintendence. -- Answer. -- The exertions of society in its corporate capacity are, 1. unwise -- 2. incapable of proper effect. -- Of sumptuary laws, agrarian laws and rewards. -- Of spies. -- Political degen- racy not incurable. -- 3. superfluous -- in com- merce -- in speculative inquiry -- in morality -- 4- pernicious -- as undermining the 'best qualities of the mind -- as hostile to its future improvement. -- Conclusion. A PRINCIPLE which has entered deeply into the systems of the writers on political law is that of the duty of governments... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Book 6, Chapter 2 : Of Religious Establishments

BOOK VI Effects of the Political Superintendence of Opinion CHAPTER II Of Religious Establishments Their general tendency. - Effects on the clergy: they introduce, i. implicit faith - 2. hypocrisy: topics by which an adherence to them is vindicated. - Effects on the laity. - Application. ONE of the most striking instances of the injurious effects of the political patronage of opinion, as it at present exists in the world, is to be found in the system of religious conformity. Let us take our example from the church of England, by the constitution of which subscription is required from its clergy to thirty-nine articles of precise and dogmatic assertion, upon almost every subject of moral and metaphysical inquiry. Here t... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Book 6, Chapter 3 : Of the Suppression of Erroneou...

BOOK VI Opinions as a Subject of Political Institution CHAPTER III OF THE SUPPRESSIONS OF ERRONEOUS OPINIONS IN RELIGION AND GOVERNMENT Of heresy. - Arguments by which the suppres- sion of heresy has been recommended. - Answer. - Ignorance not necessary to make men virtuous. - Reason, and not force, the proper corrective of sophistry. - Incongruity of the attempt to restrain thought - to restrain the freedom of speech. Consequences that would result. - Fallibility of the men by whom authority is exercised. - Of erroneous opinions in government. Iniquity of the attempt to restrain them. - Difficulty of suppressing opinions by force. - Severities that would be necessary. - Without persecution and oppres- sion, o... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Book 6, Chapter 4 : Of Tests

BOOK VI Of the Suppression of Erroneous Opinions CHAPTER IV OF TESTS Their supposed advantages are attended with iniustice - are nugatory. - Illustration. - Their disadvantages. - They ensnare. - Example. - Second example. - Influence of tests on the - latitudinarian - on the purist. - Conclusion. THE majority of the arguments above employed, on the subject of penal laws in matters of opinion, are equally applicable to tests, religious and political. The distinction, between prizes and penalties, between greater and less, has little tendency to change the state of the question, if we have already proved that any discouragement extended to the curiosity of intellect, and any authoritative countenance afforded to one set... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Book 00006, Chapter 00005 : Of Oaths

BOOK VI CHAPTER V OF OATHS Oaths of office and duty. - Their absurdity. - Their immoral consequences. - Oaths of evi- dence - less atrocious. - Opinion of the liberal and resolved respecting them. - Their essential features: contempt of veracity - false morality. - Their particular structure. - Abstract principles assumed by them to be true. - Their inconsistency with these principles. THE same arguments that prove the injustice of tests maybe applied universally to all oaths of duty and office. If I entered upon the office without an oath, what would be my duty? Can the oath that is imposed upon me make any alteration in my duty? If not, does not the very act of imposing it by implication assert a falsehood? Will this f... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Book 00006, Chapter 00006 : Of Libels

BOOK VI Opinion as a Subject of Political Institution CHAPTER VI Of Libels Public libels. - Injustice of an attempt to pre- scribe the method in which public questions shall be discussed. - Its pusillanimity. - Invita- tions to tumult. - Private libels. - Reasons in favor of their being subjected to restraint. - Answer. - 1. It is necessary the truth should be told. - Salutary effects of the unrestrained investigation of character. - Objection: freedom of speech would be productive of calumny, not of justice. - Answer. - Future history of libel. - 2. It is necessary men should be taught to be sincere. - Extent of the evil which arises from a command to be insincere. - The mind spon- taneously shrinks from ... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Book 00006, Chapter 00007 : Of Constitutions

BOOK VI Opinion as a Subject of Political Institution CHAPTER VII OF CONSTITUTIONS Distinction of regulations constituent and legislative. - Supposed character of permanence that ought to be given to the former - inconsist- ent with the nature of man. - Source of the error. - Remark. - Absurdity of the system of permanence. - Its futility. - Mode to be pursued in framing a constitution. - Constituent laws not more important than others. - In what manner the consent of the districts is to be de- clared. - Tendency of the principle which re- quires this consent. - It would reduce the number of constitutional articles - parcel out the legislative power - and produce the gradual extinction of la... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Book 00006, Chapter 00008 : Of National Education

BOOK VI Opinion as a Subject of Political Institution CHAPTER VIII OF NATIONAL EDUCATION Arguments in its favor. - Answer. - I. It Pro- duces permanence of opinion. - Nature of prejudice and judgment described. - 2. It re- quires uniformity of operation. - 3. It is the mirror and tool of national government. - The right of punishing, not founded in the pre- vious function of instructing. A MODE in which government has been accustomed to interfere, for the purpose of influencing opinion, is by the superintendence it has in a greater or less degree, exerted in the article of education. It is worthy of observation that the idea of this superintendence has obtained the countenance of several of the zealous ... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Book 00006, Chapter 00009 : Of Pensions and Salaries

BOOK VI Opinion as a Subject of Political Institution CHAPTER IX OF PENSIONS AND SALARIES Reasons by which they are vindicated. - Labor in its usual acceptation and labor for the public compared. - Immoral effects of the insti- tution of salaries. - Source from which they are derived. - Unnecessary for the subsistence of the public functionary - for dignity. - Salaries of inferior officers may also be super- seded. Taxation. - Qualifications. An article which deserves the maturest consideration, and by means of which political institution does not fail to produce the most important influence upon opinion, is that of the mode of rewarding public services. The mode which has obtained in all European countries is that ... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Book 00006, Chapter 00010 : Of the Modes of Deciding a Que...

CHAPTER X OF THE MODES OF DECIDING A QUESTION ON THE PART OF THE COMMUNITY Decision by lot, its origin - founded in moral imbecility - or cowardice. - Decision by ballot - inculcates timidity - and hypocrisy. - Decision by vote, its recommendations. WHAT has been here said upon the subject of qualifications naturally leads to a few observations upon the three principal modes of determining public questions and elections, by sortition, ballot and vote. The idea of sortition was first introduced by the dictates of superstition. It was supposed that, when human reason piously acknowledged its insufficiency, the Gods, pleased with so unfeigned a homage, interfered to guide the decision. This imagination is now exploded. Every man w... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Book 00007, Chapter 00001 : Limitations of the Doctrine of...

BOOK VII OF CRIMES AND PUNISHMENTS CHAPTER I LIMITATIONS OF THE DOCTRINE OF PUNISHMENT WHICH RESULT FROM THE PRINCIPLES OF MORALITY Definition of punishment. - Nature of crime. - Retributive justice not independent and absolute - not to be vindicated from the system of nature. - Force of the term, desert. - Con- clusion. THE subject of punishment is perhaps the most fundamental in the science of politics. Men associated for the sake of mutual protection and benefit. It has already appeared that the internal affairs of such associations are of an inexpressibly higher importance than their external.1 It has appeared that the action of society, in conferring rewards, and superintending opinion, is of pernicious effect... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Book 00007, Chapter 00002 : General Disadvantages of Punis...

BOOK VII OF CRIMES AND PUNISHMENTS CHAPTER II General Disadvantages of Punishment Conscience in matters of religion considered - the conduct of life. - Best practicable criterion of duty - not the decision of other men, but of our own understanding. - Ten dency of coercion. - Its various classes con- sidered. HAVING thus endeavored to show what denominations of punishment justice, and a sound idea of the nature of man, would invariably proscribe, it belongs to us, in the further prosecution of the subject, to consider merely that coercion, which it has been supposed right to employ, against persons convicted of past injurious action, for the purpose of preventing future mischief. And here we will, first, recol... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Book 00007, Chapter 00003 : Of the Purposes of Punishment

BOOK VII OF CRIMES AND PUNISHMENTS CHAPTER III OF THE PURPOSES OF PUNISHMENT Nature of defense considered. - Punishment for restraint - for reformation. - Supposed uses of adversity - defective - unnecessary. - Punish- ment for example - i. nugatory. - 2. until. - Unfeeling character of this species of coercion. LET US proceed to consider the three principal ends that punishment proposes to itself, restraint, reformation and example. Under each of these heads the arguments on the affirmative side must be allowed to be cogent, not irresistible. Under each of them considerations will occur that will oblige us to doubt universally of the propriety of punishment. The first and most innocent of all the classes of coercion i... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Book 7, Chapter 4 : Of the Application of Punishme...

BOOK VII OF CRIMES AND PUNISHMENTS CHAPTER IV OF THE APPLICATION OF PUNISHMENT Delinquency and punishment incommensur- able. - External action no proper subject of criminal animadversion - how far capable of proof. - Iniquity of this standard in a moral - and in a political view. - Propriety of a retri- bution to be measured by the intention of the offender considered. - Such a project would overturn criminal law - would abolish punish- ment. - Inscrutability, 1. of motives. - Doubt- fullness of history. - Declarations of sufferers. - 2. of the future conduct of the offender. - Uncertainty of evidence - either of the facts -or the intention. - Disadvantages of the defend- ant in a criminal suit. ... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Book 00007, Chapter 00005 : Of Punishment Considered as a ...

BOOK VII OF CRIMES AND PUNISHMENTS CHAPTER V OF PUNISHMENT CONSIDERED AS A TEMPORARY EXPEDIENT Arguments in its favor. - Answer. - It cannot fit men for a better order of society. - The true remedy to private injustice described - is adapted to immediate practice. - Duty of the community in this respect. - Duty of individuals. - Illustration from the case of war - of individual defense. - Application. Disadvantages of anarchy - want of security - of progressive inquiry. - Correspondent disadvantages of despotism. - Anarchy awakens, despotism depresses the mind. - Final result of anarchy - how determined. - Supposed purposes of punishment in a temporary view - reformation - example - restraint. - Conclusion. ... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Book 00007, Chapter 00006 : Scale of Punishment

BOOK VII OF CRIMES AND PUNISHMENTS CHAPTER VI SCALE OF PUNISHMENT Its sphere described. - its several classes. - Death with torture. - Death absolutely. - Origin of this policy - in the corruptness of political institutions - in the inhumanity of the instituters. - Corporal punishment. - Its absurdity. - its atrociousness. - Privation of freedom. Duty of reforming our neighbor an inferior consideration in this case. - Its places described. - Modes of restraint, - Indis- criminate imprisonment. - Solitary imprison- ment. - Its severity - Its moral effects. - Slavery. - Banishment. - 1.Simple banishment. - 2.Transportation. - 3. Colonization. - This project has miscarried from unkindness - from ... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Book 00007, Chapter 00007 : Of Evidence

BOOK VII OF CRIMES ANDPUNISHMENTS CHAPTER VII OF EVIDENCE Difficulties to which this subject is liable - exemplified in the distinctions between overt actions and intentions - Reasons against this distinction. - Principle in which it is founded. Having sought to ascertain the decision in which questions of offense against the general safety ought to terminate, it only remains under this head of inquiry to consider the principles according to which the trial should be conducted. These principles may for the most part be referred to two points, the evidence that is to be required, and the method to be pursued by us in classing offenses. The difficulties to which the subject of evidence is liable have been stated i... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Book 00007, Chapter 00008 : Of Law

BOOK VII OF CRIMES AND PUNISHMENTS CHAPTER VIII OF LAW Arguments by which it is recommended - Answer. - Law is, 1. endless - particularly in a free state.- Causes of this disadvantage, - 2. uncertain - instanced in questions of property. - Mode in which it must be studied. - 3. pretends to foretell future events. - Laws are a series of Promises - check the freedom of opinion - are destructive of the principles of reason. - Dishonesty of lawyers. - An honest lawyer mischievous. - Abolition of law vindicated on the score of wisdom - of candor - from the nature of man. - Future history of political justice. - Errors that might arise in the commencement. Its gradual progress, - its effects on criminal ... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Book 00007, Chapter 00009 : Of Pardons

BOOK VII OF CRIMES AND PUNISHMENTS CHAPTER IX OF PARDONS Their absurdity. - Their origin. - Their abuses. - Their arbitrary character. - Destructive of morality. There is one other topic which belongs to the subject of the present book, but which may be dismissed in a very few words, because, though it has unhappily been, in almost all cases, neglected in practice, it is a point that seems to admit of uncommonly simple and irresistible evidence: I mean the topic of pardons. The very word, to a reflecting mind, is fraught with absurdity. 'What is the rule that ought, in all cases, to direct my conduct?' Surely justice; understanding by justice the greatest utility of the whole mass of beings that may be influenced by my conduct. 'Wha... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Book 00008, Chapter 00001 : Preliminary Observations

BOOK VIII OF PROPERTY CHAPTER I PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS Importance of this topic. - Plan for its dis- cussion. - Definition. Subject of the present chapter.- of the next. - Principle of decision stated. - Rights of man. - Superfluities appre- ciated- Love of distinction. - Direction, which, this passion is capable of receiving. - Of merit and reward. - System of popular morality on this subject. - Its defects. THE subject of property is the key-stone that completes the fabric, of political justice. According as our ideas respecting it are crude or correct, they will enlighten us as to the consequences of a simple form of society without government, and remove the prejudices that attach us to complexity. There is nothin... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Book 00008, Chapter 00002 : Principles of Property

BOOK VIII OF PROPERTY CHAPTER II PRINCIPLES OF PROPERTY Definitions - Degrees of Property 1. in the means of subsistence and happiness 2. in the fruits of our labor- 3. in the labor of others. - Unfavorable features of this species of prop- erty. - Ground of obligation respecting it. - Origin of Property - of inheritance and tes- tation. - Instances of gratuitous inequality - Legislation of titles. - Limitations oil the preceding reasoning. - Sacredness of property. - Conclusion. HAVING considered at large the question of the person entitled to the use of the means of benefit or pleasure, it is time that we proceed to the second question, of the person in whose hands the preservation and distribution of any of these me... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Book 00008, Chapter 00004 : Objection to this System from ...

BOOK VIII OF PROPERTY CHAPTER IV OBJECTION TO THIS SYSTEM FROM THE FRAILTY OF THE HUMAN MIND Recapitulation. - Objection stated. - General answer to his objection. - Particular answer. - Influence of public opinion upon the conduct of individuals. HAVING proceeded thus far in our investigation, it may be proper to recapitulate the principles already established. The discussion, under each of its branches, as it relates to the equality of men,1 and the inequalities of property, 2 may be considered as a discussion either of right or duty; and, in that respect, runs parallel to the two great heads of which we treated in our original development of the principles of society.3 I have a right to the assistance of my neighbor; he has a righ... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Book 00008, Chapter 00005 : Objection to this System from ...

BOOK VIII OF PROPERTY CHAPTER V OBJECTION TO THIS SYSTEM FROM THE QUESTION OF PERMANENCE Grounds of the objection. - Its serious import. - Nature of the equality under consideration - as produced by a stricter sense of justice - and a purer theory of happiness. THE change we are here contemplating consists in the disposition of every member of the community voluntarily to resign that which would be productive of a much higher degree of benefit and pleasure when possessed by his neighbor than when occupied by himself. Undoubtedly, this state of society is remote from the modes of thinking and acting which at present prevail. A long period of time must probably elapse before it can he brought entirely into practice. All w... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Book 00008, Chapter 00006 : Objection to this System from ...

BOOK VIII OF PROPERTY CHAPTER VI OBJECTION TO THIS SYSTEM FROM THE ALLUREMENTS OF SLOTH Objection proposed. -- Such a state of society preceded by great intellectual improvement. -- The manual labor required will be small. -- Universality of the love of distinction. -- Operation of this motive under the system in question -- finally superseded by a better motive. Another objection which has been urged against the system which counteracts the accumulation of property, is, "that it would put an end to industry. We behold, in commercial countries, the miracles that are operated by the love of gain. Their inhabitants cover the sea with their fleets, astonish mankind by the refinements of their ingenuity, hold vast continents i... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Book 00008, Chapter 00007 : Objection to this System from ...

BOOK VIII OF PROPERTY CHAPTER VII OBJECTION TO THIS SYSTEM FROM THE BENEFITS OF LUXURY Nature of the objection. -- Extent of its influence. -- Luxury a stage to be passed through. -- Meanings of the term luxury distinguished. -- Application. The objections we have hitherto examined, attack the practicabilty of a system of equality. But there are not wanting reasoners, the tendency of whose arguments is to show that, omitting the practicability, it is not even desirable. One of the objections they advance, is as follows. They lay it down as a maxim, in the first instance, and the truth of this maxim we shall not contend with them, "that refinement is better than ignorance. It is better to be a man than a brute. Those attribut... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Book 8, Chapter 8, Appendix 1 : Of Co-operation, Cohabitation ...

BOOK VIII OF PROPERTY CHAPTER VIII APPENDIX OF COOPERATION, COHABITATION AND MARRIAGE Advantages of social refinement -- of individuality. -- Evils of cooperation. -- Ideas of the future state of cooperation. -- Its limits. -- Its legitimate province. -- Evils of cohabitation -- of the received system of marriage. -- Consequences of their abolition. -- A promiscuous commerce of the sexes estimated. -- Inconstancy estimated. -- Education need not be a sybject of positive institution. -- Of the division of labor. It is a curious subject, to inquire into the due medium between individuality and concert. On the one hand, it is to be observed that human beings are formed for society. Without society, we shall probably be deprived of th... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Book 00008, Chapter 00008 : Objection to this System from ...

BOOK VIII OF PROPERTY CHAPTER VIII OBJECTION TO THIS SYSTEM FROM THE INFLEXIBILITY OF ITS RESTRICTIONS Objection stated. -- Natural and moral independence distinguished. -- Tendency of restriction properly so called. -- The system of equality not a system of restriction. An objection that has often been urged against a system of equality, is, "that it is inconsistent with personal independence. Every man, according to this scheme, is a passive instrument in the hands of the community. He must eat and drink, and play and sleep, at the bidding of others. He has no habitation, no period at which he can retreat into himself, and not ask another's leave. He has nothing that he can call his own, not even his time or his person. Under the... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Book 00008, Chapter 00009, Appendix 0000... : Appendix. Of Health and the Pr...

BOOK VIII OF PROPERTY CHAPTER IX APPENDIX OF HEALTH, AND THE PROLONGATION OF HUMAN LIFE Omnipotence of mind. -- Application of this principle to the animal frame. -- Causes of decrepitude. -- Theory of voluntary and involuntary action. -- Present utility of these reasoning. -- Recapitulation. -- Application to the future state of society. The question respecting population is, in some degree, connected, with the subject of health and longevity. It may therefore be allowed us, to make use of this occasion, for indulging in certain speculations upon this article. What follows, must be considered, as eminently a deviation into the land of conjecture. If it be false, it leaves the system to which it is appended, in all sound reason, as... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Book 00008, Chapter 00009 : Objection to this System from ...

BOOK VIII OF PROPERTY CHAPTER IX OBJECTION TO THIS SYSTEM FROM THE PRINCIPLE OF POPULATION Objection stated. -- Opinions that have been entertained on this subject. -- Population adapted to find own level. -- Precautions that have been exerted to check it. -- Conclusion. An author who has speculated widely upon subjects of government1 has recommended equality, (or, which was rather his idea, a community of goods to be maintained by the vigilance of the state), as a complete remedy, for the usurpation and distress which are, at present, the most powerful enemies of human kind; for the vises which infect education in some instances, and the neglect it encounters in more; for all the turbulence of passion, and all the injustice of sel... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Book 00008, Chapter 00003 : Benefits Attendant on a System...

BOOK VIII OF PROPERTY CHAPTER III BENEFITS ATTENDANT ON A SYSTEM OF EQUALITY Contrasted with the mischiefs of the present system - 1. a sense of dependence. 2. the perpetual spectacle of injustice, leading men astray in their desires - and perverting the integrity of their judgments. - The rich are the true pensioners. - 3. the discouragement of intellectual attainments. - 4. the multiplication of vise - generating the crimes of the poor - the passions of the rich - and the misfortunes of war. - 5. depopulation. HAVING seen the justice of an equal distribution of the good things of life, let us next proceed to consider, in detail, the benefits with which it would be attended. And here with grief it must be confessed that, however g... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Book 00008, Chapter 00010 : Reflections

BOOK VIII OF PROPERTY CHAPTER X REFLECTIONS I. Supposed danger in disseminating leveling principles. -- Idea of massacre. -- Qualification of this idea. -- Skeptical suggestions -- Means of suppressing inquiry. -- Nature of political science. -- II. Political duties, 1. of those who are qualified for public instructors -- temper -- sincerity. -- Pernicious effects of dissimulation in this case. -- 2. of the rich and great. -- Many of them may be expected to be advocates of equality. -- Conduct which their interest as a body prescribes. -- 3. of the friends of equality in general. -- Importance of a mild and benevolent proceeding. -- III. Connection between liberty and equality. -- Cause of equality will perpetually advance. -- Sy... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Summary of Principles

SUMMARY OF PRINCIPLES ESTABLISHED AND REASONED UPON IN THE FOLLOWING WORK The reader who would form a just estimate of the reasonings of these volumes cannot perhaps proceed more judiciously than by examining for himself the truth of these principles, and the support they afford to the various inferences interspersed through the work. I. THE true object of moral and political disquisition, is pleasure or happiness. The primary, or earliest, class of human pleasures is the pleasures of the external senses. In addition to these, man is susceptible of certain secondary plea- suers, as the pleasures of intellectual feeling, the pleasures of sympathy, and the pleasu... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

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An Enquiry [4th Ed.] Concerning the Principles of Political Justice and Its Influence on General Virtue, Fourth Edition

By William Godwin (1793)

Entry 691

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