Enquiry Concerning Political Justice.and Its Influence on Morals and Happiness

London,: G.G. And J. Robinson:, 1798. Third Edition Corrected. (iii)-lvi and 463, (iii)-ix and 554 pages, lacking half titles. Extremely nice copy of the final version of Godwin's most important political work, espousing "one of the earliest, the clearest, and the most absolute theoretical expositions of socialist and anarchist doctrine. Godwin believed that the motives of all human action were subject to reason, that reason taught benevolence, and that therefore all rational creatures colud live in harmony without laws and institutions....It is to be doubted if anyone full accepted this out-and-out radicalism, but Godwin's passionate advocacy of individualism, his trust in the fundamental goodness of man, and his opposition to all restrictions on liberty, have endured....they lie at the roots of all marxist and anarchist theory." PMOM Text very clean and strong, showing only some light aging and foxing, minor dampstain to margins of last few leaves in Volume II. C.f., Printing and the Mind of Man 243; Rotshchild 1016.. Third Edition. Recent Brown Calf. Very Good. 8vo.. 2 Volumes..