Title page from An Enquiry Concerning Political Justice, in 2 vols.

An Enquiry Concerning Political Justice, in 2 vols.

Godwin’s best known work of political theory. Written in the early years of the French Revolution before the Terror had begun, Godwin provides a devastating critique of unjust government institutions and optimistically proposes that individuals not the state can best provide for their needs. He believed that political change could best be brought about gradually and as a result of free discussion in small communities. This work has inspired many generations of radical thinkers.

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