William Godwin’s Followers (159)

William Godwin

Born

in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, England

March 03, 1756

Died

April 07, 1836

Genre

Politics, Philosophy

Influences

Baron d’Holbach, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft, Francis Pl ...more

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William Godwin was the son and grandson of strait-laced Calvinist ministers. Strictly-raised, he followed in paternal footsteps, becoming a minister by age 22. His reading of atheist d'Holbach and others caused him to lose both his belief in the doctrine of eternal damnation, and his ministerial position. Through further reading, Godwin gradually became godless. He promoted anarchism (but not anarchy). His Political Justice and The Enquirer (1793) argued for morality without religion, causing a scandal. He followed that philosophical book with a trail-blazing fictional adventure-detective story, Caleb Williams (1794), to introduce readers to his ideas in a popular format. Godwin, a leading thinker and author ranking in his day close to Thom ...more

Combine Editions
William Godwin’s books

Average rating: 3.51 · 5,704 ratings · 417 reviews · 194 distinct works • Similar authors

	Caleb Williams by William Godwin, Maurice Hindle (Introduction) 3.45 avg rating — 4,474 ratings — published 1794 — 593 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Memoirs of the Author of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman 3.69 avg rating — 228 ratings — published 1798 — 563 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Enquiry Concerning Political Justice and Its Influence on Modern Morals and Happiness by William Godwin, Isaac Kramnick 3.62 avg rating — 165 ratings — published 1793 — 75 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Lives of the Necromancers 3.78 avg rating — 67 ratings — published 1834 — 366 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	St. Leon by William Godwin, William D. Brewer 3.52 avg rating — 52 ratings — published 1799 — 108 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Anarchist Writings Of William Godwin by William Godwin, Peter H. Marshall (Editor) 3.74 avg rating — 39 ratings — published 1986	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Fleetwood Or The New Man Of Feeling 3.15 avg rating — 26 ratings — published 2000 — 81 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Adventures of Caleb Williams; Or, Things As They Are, Volume 3 4.06 avg rating — 17 ratings — published 2010 — 39 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Thoughts on Man, His Nature, Productions and Discoveries Interspersed with Some Particulars Respecting the Author really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 15 ratings — published 1831 — 227 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Executioner 3.53 avg rating — 17 ratings — published 1832	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by William Godwin…

Series by William Godwin

Предшественники научного социализма (1 book)
by

William Godwin,

Уильям Годвин

liked it 3.00 avg rating — 1 rating

Quotes by William Godwin (?)

“He that loves reading has everything within his reach.”
― William Godwin

tags: reading

103 likes

“Strange that men, from age to age, should consent to hold their lives at the breath of another, merely that each in his turn may have a power of acting the tyrant according to the law! Oh, God! give me poverty! Shower upon me all the imaginary hardships of human life! I will receive them with all thankfulness. Turn me a prey to the wild beasts of the desert, so I be never again the victim of man, dressed in the gore-dripping robes of authority! Suffer me at least to call life, the pursuits of life, my own! Let me hold it at the mercy of the elements, of the hunger of the beasts, or the revenge of barbarians, but not of the cold-blooded prudence of monopolists and kings!”
― William Godwin, Caleb Williams

tags: anarchy, government, psalms

28 likes

“It is absurd to expect the inclinations and wishes of two human beings to coincide, through any long period of time. To oblige them to act and live together is to subject them to some inevitable potion of thwarting, bickering, and unhappiness.”
― William Godwin

tags: anarchy, love, marriage

28 likes

See all William Godwin's quotes »

Polls

What would you like to read in January?

King Solomon's Mines (Allan Quatermain, #1) by H. Rider Haggard

King Solomon's Mines - H. Rider Haggard

73 votes, 57.9%

Story of O (Story of O #1) by Pauline Réage

Story of O - Pauline Réage

29 votes, 23.0%

The Adventures of Caleb Williams Things as They Are by William Godwin

The Adventures of Caleb Williams Things as They Are - William Godwin

24 votes, 19.0%

126 total votes

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