William Godwin

1756-1836. English political thinker, novelist, playwright and historian.

Life

William Godwin was born in Wisbeach, Cambridgeshire, on 3 March 1756, as the seventh of thirteen children of John Godwin, a dissenting minister, and Anne Godwin, daughter of ship owner Richard Hull. For most of William's youth, the family lived in Guestwick, near Norwich, Norfolk. As a young boy, he already was a religious enthusiast and dissenter, preaching to his fellow school children. From 1767-1770, he was educated by Samuel Newton, who was strongly influenced by the teachings of hyper Calvinist Robert Sandeman.

As a consequence, William was rejected when he tried to enter Homerton Academy on suspicion of Sandemanianism. He then went to the more tolerant Hoxton Academy, where he studied for five years. Afterwards, he worked as a dissenting minister in Ware, London and Stowmarket, Suffolk. During this time, he read works of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Paul Henri Thiry d'Holbach and Claude Adrien Helvetius, which caused his faith to be strongly shaken. A dispute with his congregation followed, and William Godwin moved to London to become a professional writer in 1782. At the end of this year, however, he returned to his former profession, serving at Beaconsfield, but returned to London and writing after seven months.

In 1783, Godwin's first novel The history of the Life of William Pitt, Earl of Chatham was published, followed by three other novels, two pamphlets, a work on education and some critical reviews. All of this, however, hardly earned him any money. His situation only changed when Andrew Kippis asked him to write the British and Foreign History section for the New Annual Register. In 1785, he also contributed to the Whig journal Political Herald. These articles were to remain his only publications during the years to come. Nevertheless, Godwin managed to persuade his publisher George Robinson to advance some money to enable him to write a political document in 1791. This work was published as An Enquiry concerning the Principles of Political Justice, and Its Influence on General Virtue and Happiness in two volumes in 1793. It was an immediate success, although many of the views it put forward were regarded as radical and shocking. His most successful novel Things as they are, or The adventures of Caleb Williams was published the following year and was also informed by Godwin's theoretical ideas.

In 1797, Godwin married philosopher Mary Wollstonecraft, who then died shortly after giving birth to their daughter Mary (later Mary Shelley). He reacted to this tragedy by throwing himself into work. One of the results was Memoirs of the Author of the Vindication of the Rights of Women, another his Gothic novel St. Leon (1799).

While his early success had been supported by the general enthusiasm about the French Revolution, the public and political climate now became increasingly hostile to Godwin. Consequently, he turned to literature and history, with little success. In 1801, he married Mary Jane Clairmont.

In 1805, friends helped Godwin to put up a children's book store, which he ran for ten years, meanwhile writing children's literature mainly under the pseudonym Edward Baldwin.

For most of his later life, Godwin fought against poverty and furthermore had to face a number personal crises, beginning with the elopement of his daughter Mary with Percy Bysshe Shelley to France in 1814. Still, he remained very productive.

William Godwin died on 7 April 1836.

Political Ideas

Godwin is usually regarded as one of the earliest thinkers of Utilitarianism, but also as a proponent of Anarchism.

His political thinking is based on the premise that humans are born without any inclination towards the good or the bad. It is only the influence of society that makes them turn to either side. Godwin even goes so far as to propose that human actions are not the result of free will, but of the perceptions and experiences each individual has throughout his or her life. Since there are constantly new perceptions, everybody keeps changing and, thus, cannot be expected to make promises and contracts in one situation that are also valid later, under different circumstances.

Government, to Godwin, is at best a necessary evil. It can have only two legitimate purposes: to save the members of a community from suppression and to save the community itself from attacks from outside. In general, governments and nations are only there to serve the individuals, not vice versa.

Since man is not determined to anything at birth, he is perfectible. Godwin is positive that there can and will be a society without any government one day, where "[e]very man will seek, with ineffable ardour, the good of all" (An Enquiry Concerning Political Justice, Book VIII, Chapter ix, Appendix). Godwin believed that all that was needed to show man what is good and to make him pursue it was the power of truth and man's capacity to acknowledge it, i. e. reason.

Works

1783 History of the Life of William Pitt, Earl of Chatham (novel)

1784 Imogen. A Pastoral Romance From the Ancient British (novel)

1793 An Enquiry concerning Political Justice, and its Influence on General Virtue and Happiness (political philosophical treatise, 2 vols.)

1794 Things As They Are; or The Adventures of Caleb Williams (novel, 3 vols.)

1797 The Enquirer, Reflections on Education, Manners and Literature (essays)

1798 Memoirs of the Author of a Vindication of the Rights of Woman

1799 St. Leon, A Tale of the Sixteenth Century (novel, 3 vols.)

1800 Antonio (play)

1804 Life Of Geoffrey Chaucer, The Early English Poet (biography, 4 vols.)

1805 Fleetwood. or The New Man of Feeling (novel, 3 vols.)

1807 Faulkener (play)

1815 Lives of Edward and John Philips. Nephews and Pupils of Milton. Including Various Particulars of the Literary and Political History of their times (biography)

1817 Mandeville, a Tale of the Seventeenth Century in England (novel, 3 vols.)

1824-1828 History of the Commonwealth of England from its commencement to its restoration (4 vols.)

1831 Thoughts on Man, his Nature, Productions, and Discoveries (philosophical treatise)

Works Cited

Smith, Elton E./Smith, Esther G. William Godwin. New York: Twayne, 1965.

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/godwin/