“Since it is one of the great attributes of our species to be susceptible of improvement and capable of experiencing the most beneficial changes, for this reason what are vulgarly called 'venerable establishments' will often range themselves in opposition to the best interests of the community.”

English political philosopher and novelist of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, Godwin is best known for his radical political writings and early advocacy of individual liberty. His 1793 treatise *An Enquiry Concerning Political Justice* laid foundational ideas for anarchism and liberalism, emphasizing reason, natural rights, and the separation of church and state. He also penned the novel *Things as They Are* (1794), an early work of social critique, and collaborated with Mary Wollstonecraft on *Thoughts on the Education of Daughters* (1787).