Thoughts on Man, his Nature, Productions and Discoveries

Chapter 23 : Of Human Virtue, The Epilogue
ESSAY XXIII OF HUMAN VIRTUE THE EPILOGUE The life of man is divided into many stages; and we shall not form a just estimate of our common nature, if we do not to a certain degree pass its successive periods in review, and observe it in its commencement, its progress, and its maturity. It has been attempted to be established in an early part of the present volume1, that all men, idiots and extraordinary cases being put out of the question, are endowed with talents, which, if rightly directed, would shew them to be apt, adroit, intelligent and acute, in the walk for which their organization especially fitted them. We are bound therefore, particularly in the morning of life, to consider every thing that presents itself to us in the human form, with deference and attention. "God," saith the Preacher, "made man upright; but he hath sought out many inventions." There is something loose and difficult of exposition in this statemen... (From : Anarchy Archives.)

Chapter 22 : Of The Material Universe
ESSAY XXII OF THE MATERIAL UNIVERSE In the preceding Essay I have referred to the theory of Berkeley, whose opinion is that there is no such thing as matter in the sense in which it is understood by the writers on natural philosophy, and that the whole of our experience in that respect is the result of a system of accidents without an intelligible subject, by means of which antecedents and consequents flow on for ever in a train, the past succession of which man is able to record, and the future in many cases he is qualified to predict and to act upon. An argument more palpable and popular than that of Berkeley in favor of the same hypothesis, might be deduced from the points recapitulated in that Essay as delivered by Locke and Newton. If what are vulgarly denominated the secondary qualities of matter are in reality nothing but sensations existing in the human mind, then at any rate matter is a very different thing from what it is ordinarily apprehend... (From : Anarchy Archives.)

Chapter 21 : Of Astronomy
From: Thoughts on Man, His Nature, Productions and Discoveries Interspersed with some Particulares Respecting the Author by William Godwin ESSAY XXI OF ASTRONOMY SECTION I GO TO SECTION II It can scarcely be imputed to me as profane, if I venture to put down a few skeptical doubts on the science of astronomy. All branches of knowledge are to be considered as fair subjects of inquiry: and he that has never doubted, may be said, in the highest and strictest sense of the word, never to have believed. The first volume that furnished to me the groundwork of the following doubts, was the book commonly known by the name of Guthrie's Geographical Grammar, many parts and passages of which engaged my attention in my own study, in the house of a rural schoolmaster, in the year 1772. I cannot therefore proceed more fairly than by giving here an extract of certain passages in that book, which have relation to the present subject... (From : Anarchy Archives.)

Chapter 20 : Of Phrenology
ESSAY XX OF PHRENOLOGY The following remarks can pretend to he nothing more than a few loose and undigested thoughts upon a subject, which has recently occupied the attention of many men, and obtained an extraordinary vogue in the world. It were to be wished, that the task had fallen into the hands of a writer whose studies were more familiar with all the sciences which bear more or less on the topic I propose to consider: but, if abler and more competent men pass it by, I feel disposed to plant myself in the breach, and to offer suggestions which may have the fortune to lead others, better fitted for the office than myself, to engage in the investigation. One advantage I may claim, growing out of my partial deficiency. It is known not to be uncommon for a man to stand too near to the subject of his survey, to allow him to obtain a large view of it in all its bearings. I am no anatomist: I simply take my stand upon the broad ground of the general philosophy of... (From : Anarchy Archives.)

Chapter 19 : Of Self Complacence
ESSAY XIX OF SELF-COMPLACENCY The subject of this Essay is intimately connected with those of Essays XI and XII, perhaps the most important of the series. It has been established in the latter, that human creatures are constantly accompanied in their voluntary actions with the delusive sense of liberty, and that our character, our energies, and our conscience of moral right and wrong, are mainly dependent upon this feature in our constitution. The subject of my present disquisition relates to the feeling of self-approbation or self-complacency, which will be found inseparable from the most honorable efforts and exertions in which mortal men can be engaged. One of the most striking of the precepts contained in what are called the Golden Verses of Pythagoras, is couched in the words, "Reverence thyself." The duties which are incumbent on man are of two sorts, negative and positive. We are bound to set right our mistakes, and to co... (From : Anarchy Archives.)

Of the Distribution of Talents
From: Thoughts on Man, His Nature, Productions and Discoveries Interspersed with some Particulares Respecting the Author by William Godwin ESSAY II OF THE DISTRIBUTION OF TALENTS SECTION I PRESUMED DEARTH OF INTELLECTUAL POWER. --SCHOOLS FOR THE EDUCATION OF YOUTH CONSIDERED. --THE BOY AND THE MAN COMPARED. GO TO SECTION II One of the earliest judgments that is usually made by those whose attention is turned to the characters of men in the social state, is of the great inequality with which the gifts of the understanding are distributed among us. Go into a miscellaneous society; sit down at table with ten or twelve men; repair to a club where as many are assembled in an evening to relax from the toils of the day--it is almost proverbial, th... (From : Anarchy Archives.)

Of Belief
ESSAY XIII OF BELIEF One of the prerogatives by which man is eminently distinguished from all other living beings inhabiting this globe of earth, consists in the gift of reason. Beasts reason. They are instructed by experience; and, guided by what they have already known of the series of events, they infer from the sense of what has gone before, an assured expectation of what is to follow. Hence, "beast walks with man, joint tenant of the shade;" and their sagacity is in many instances more unerring than ours, because they have no affectation to mislead them; they follow no false lights, no glimmering intimation of something half-anticipating a result, but trust to the plain, blunt and obvious dictates of their simple apprehension. This how... (From : Anarchy Archives.)

Of Imitation and Invention
ESSAY X OF IMITATION AND INVENTION Of the sayings of the wise men of former times none has been oftener repeated than that of Solomon, "The thing that hath been, is that which is; and that which is done, is that which shall be done; and there is no new thing under the sun." The books of the Old Testament are apparently a collection of the whole literary remains of an ancient and memorable people, whose wisdom may furnish instruction to us, and whose poetry abounds in lofty flights and sublime imagery. How this collection came indiscriminately to be considered as written by divine inspiration, it is difficult to pronounce. The history of the Jews, as contained in the Books of Kings and of Chronicles, certainly did not require the interpositi... (From : Anarchy Archives.)

Of Human Innocence
ESSAY VI OF HUMAN INNOCENCE One of the most obvious views which are presented to us by man in society is the inoffensiveness and innocence that ordinarily characterize him. Society for the greater part carries on its own organization. Each man pursues his proper occupation, and there are few individuals that feel the propensity to interrupt the pursuits of their neighbors by personal violence. When we observe the quiet manner in which the inhabitants of a great city, and, in the country, the frequenters of the fields, the high roads, and the heaths, pass along, each engrossed by his private contemplations, feeling no disposition to molest the strangers he encounters, but on the contrary prepared to afford them every courteous assistance, we... (From : Anarchy Archives.)

Of Body and Mind, The Prologue
ESSAY I OF BODY AND MIND THE PROLOGUE There is no subject that more frequently occupies the attention of the contemplative than man: yet there are many circumstances concerning him that we shall hardly admit to have been sufficiently considered. Familiarity breeds contempt. That which we see every day and every hour, it is difficult for us to regard with admiration. To almost every one of our stronger emotions novelty is a necessary ingredient. The simple appetites of our nature may perhaps form an exception. The appetite for food is perpetually renewed in a healthy subject with scarcely any diminution and love, even the most refined, being combined with one of our original impulses, will sometimes for that reason withstand a thousand trial... (From : Anarchy Archives.)