“To conceive that compulsion and punishment are the proper means of reformation, is the sentiment of a barbarian; civilisation and science are calculated to explode so ferocious an idea. It was once universally admitted and approved; it is now necessarily upon the decline.”

— William Godwin

Vol. 2, bk. 7, ch. 5
Enquiry Concerning Political Justice (1793)

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William Godwin 36

English journalist, political philosopher and novelist 1756–1836

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“To conceive that compulsion and punishment are the proper means of reformation, is the sentiment of a barbarian; civilisation and science are calculated to explode so ferocious an idea. It was once universally admitted and approved; it is now necessarily upon the decline.”

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