Godwin, William

Godwin, William (1756–1836). English writer and novelist. In 1793 Godwin published his anarchist masterpiece Enquiry Concerning Political Justice, which caught the public imagination and made his reputation. He argued against the use of coercion of any kind, whether political, ecclesiastical, or military, not because it violated natural rights, but because it was corrupting and counter-productive. Godwin was an extreme determinist, rejecting the idea of free will: indeed he asserted that the ‘assassin can no more help the murder he commits than the knife in his hand’. He claimed that the ills of society were due to the bad influences exerted on people, largely by governments, and that the path to improvement lay in the power of reason, not coercion. In the ideal society there would be no government and no punishment: individuals would live in harmony because of their mutual grasp of reason. In 1797 Godwin married Mary Wollstonecraft, who died two years later giving birth to their daughter Mary, who married Shelley.

Tim S. Gray