BOOK III PRINCIPLES OF GOVERNMENT CHAPTER I SYSTEMS OF POLITICAL WRITERS 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 of public good, and to control the acts of the individual, by an act to be performed in the name of the whole. Previously to our deciding upon this question, it will be of advantage to inquire into the nature of government, and the manner in which this control may be exercised with the smallest degree of violence and usurpation in regard to the individual. This point, being determined, will assist us finally to ascertain both the quantity of evil which government in its best form involves, and the urgency of...
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 mistake. - The argument balanced. - Importance of a sense of justice. - Its con- nection with talents. - Illiberality with which men of talents are usually treated. A...