"If mind be now in a great degree the ruler of the system, why should it be incapable of extending its empire?"
— Godwin, William (1756-1836)
Author
Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for G.G.J. and J. Robinson
Date
1793
Metaphor
"If mind be now in a great degree the ruler of the system, why should it be incapable of extending its empire?"
Metaphor in Context
The application of these reasonings is simple and irresistible. If mind be now in a great degree the ruler of the system, why should it be incapable of extending its empire? If our involuntary thoughts can derange or restore the animal economy, why should we not in process of time, in this as in other instances, subject the thoughts which are at present involuntary to the government of design? If volition can now do something, why should it not go on to do still more and more? There is no principle of reason less liable to question than this, that, if we have in any respect a little power now, and if mind be essentially progressive, that power may, and, barring any extraordinary concussions of nature, infallibly will, extend beyond any bounds we are able to prescribe to it.
(II, p. 865)
(II, p. 865)
Categories
Provenance
Searching "mind" in on-line offerings at Liberty Fund's Free-Press; confirmed in ECCO.
Citation
2 entries in ESTC (both 1793).
See An Enquiry Concerning Political Justice, and Its Influence on General Virtue and Happiness. by William Godwin., 2 vols. (London: Printed for G.G.J. and J. Robinson, 1793). <Link to ECCO>
See An Enquiry Concerning Political Justice, and Its Influence on General Virtue and Happiness. by William Godwin., 2 vols. (London: Printed for G.G.J. and J. Robinson, 1793). <Link to ECCO>
Date of Entry
05/26/2005
