The Enquirer

A collection of essays on literary, political and social subjects, begun while he was revising Political Justice. In part, he takes up and continues some of the new themes which appeared in the second edition of Political Justice, such as his devastating survey of "Trades and professions," in which he is openly scathing of lawyers, physicians, and, particularly, the clergy. Perhaps of greatest significance, though is the first part of the Enquirer, which offers "the most remarkable and advanced treatise on education to appear at the end of the eighteenth century"Marshall. Godwin's was a bold system, based on the desire of the autonomous learner rather than the will of the authoritarian teacher; he hoped that such an approach would end the slavery of the young, strengthen their judgment and encourage study. He was opposed to any form of censorship, and believed that children should be treated as far as possible as equals, in such a way that the parent or tutor would become a friendly guide rather than a dictatorial task-master, and that children would not be schooled into passive obedience but allowed to develop freely.