Skip to main content.

Enquiry Concerning Political Justice and its Influence on Morals and Happiness.…

It was Godwin, in his Enquiry concerning Political Justice (2 vols., 1793), who was the first to formulate the political and economical conceptions of anarchism, even though he did not give that name to the ideas developed in his remarkable work. Laws, he wrote, are not a product of the wisdom of our ancestors: they are the product of their passions, their timidity, their jealousies and their ambition. The remedy they offer is worse than the evils they pretend to cure. - Summary by Peter Kropotkin (14 hr 43 min)

Chapters

BOOK V. CHAP. I. INTRODUCTION

BOOK V. CHAP. II. OF EDUCATION, THE EDUCATION OF A PRINCE

BOOK V. CHAP. III. PRIVATE LIFE OF A PRINCE.

BOOK V. CHAP. IV. OF A VIRTUOUS DESPOTISM

BOOK V. CHAP. V. OF COURTS AND MINISTERS

BOOK V. CHAP. VI. OF SUBJECTS

BOOK V. CHAP. VII. OF ELECTIVE MONARCHY

BOOK V. CHAP. VIII. OF LIMITED MONARCHY

BOOK V. CHAP. IX. OF A PRESIDENT WITH REGAL POWERS

BOOK V. CHAP. X. OF HEREDITARY DISTINCTION

BOOK V. CHAP. XI. MORAL EFFECTS OF ARISTOCRACY

BOOK V. CHAP. XII. OF TITLES

BOOK V. CHAP. XIII. OF THE ARISTOCRATICAL CHARACTER

BOOK V. CHAP. XIV. GENERAL FEATURES OF DEMOCRACY

BOOK V. CHAP. XV. OF POLITICAL IMPOSTURE

BOOK V. CHAP. XVI. OF THE CAUSES OF WAR

BOOK V. CHAP. XVII. OF THE OBJECT OF WAR

BOOK V. CHAP. XVIII. OF THE CONDUCT OF WAR

BOOK V. CHAP. XIX. OF MILITARY ESTABLISHMENTS AND TREATIES

BOOK V. CHAP. XX. OF DEMOCRACY AS CONNECTED WITH THE TRANSACTIONS OF WAR

BOOK V. CHAP. XXI. OP THE COMPOSITION OF GOVERNMENT

BOOK V. CHAP. XXII. OF THE FUTURE HISTORY OF POLITICAL SOCIETIES

BOOK V. CHAP. XXIII. OF NATIONAL ASSEMBLIES

BOOK V. CHAP. XXIV. OF THE DISSOLUTION OF GOVERNMENT

BOOK VI. CHAP. I. GENERAL EFFECTS OF THE POLITICAL SUPERINTENDENCE OF OPINION

BOOK VI. CHAP. II. OF RELIGIOUS ESTABLISHMENTS

BOOK VI. CHAP. III. OF THE SUPPRESSION OF ERRONEOUS OPINION IN RELIGION AND GOV…

BOOK VI. CHAP. IV. OF TESTS

BOOK VI. CHAP. V. OF OATHS

BOOK VI. CHAP. VI. OF LIBELS

BOOK VI. CHAP. VII. OF CONSTITUTIONS

BOOK VI. CHAP. VIII. OF NATIONAL EDUCATION

BOOK VI. CHAP. IX. OF PENSIONS AND SALARIES

BOOK VI. CHAP. X. OF THE MODES OF DECIDING A QUESTION ON THE PART OF THE COMMUN…

BOOK VII. CHAP. I. LIMITATIONS OF THE DOCTRINE OF PUNISHMENT WHICH RESULT FROM …

BOOK VII. CHAP. II. GENERAL DISADVANTAGES OF PUNISHMENT

BOOK VII. CHAP. III. OF THE PURPOSES OF PUNISHMENT

BOOK VII. CHAP. IV. OF THE APPLICATION OF PUNISHMENT

BOOK VII. CHAP. V. OF PUNISHMENT CONSIDERED AS A TEMPORARY EXPEDIENT

BOOK VII. CHAP. VI. SCALE OF PUNISHMENT

BOOK VII. CHAP. VII. OF EVIDENCE

BOOK VII. CHAP. VIII. OF LAW

BOOK VII. CHAP. IX. OF PARDONS

BOOK VIII. CHAP. I. PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS

BOOK VIII. CHAP. II. PRINCIPLES OF PROPERTY

BOOK VIII. CHAP. III. BENEFITS ATTENDANT ON A SYSTEM OF EQUALITY

BOOK VIII. CHAP. IV. OBJECTION TO THIS SYSTEM FROM THE FRAILTY OF THE HUMAN MIND

BOOK VIII. CHAP. V. OBJECTION TO THIS SYSTEM FROM QUESTION OF PERMANENCE

BOOK VIII. CHAP. VI. OBJECTION TO THIS SYSTEM FROM THE ALLUREMENTS OF SLOTH

BOOK VIII. CHAP. VII. OBJECTION TO THIS SYSTEM FROM THE BENEFITS OF LUXURY

BOOK VIII. CHAP. VIII. OBJECTION TO THIS SYSTEM FROM THE INFLEXIBILITY OF ITS R…

BOOK VIII. CHAP. IX. OBJECTION TO THIS SYSTEM FROM THE PRINCIPLE OF POPULATION

BOOK VIII. CHAP.X. REFLECTIONS.