(1756-1836) English philosopher, novelist, and father of the writer Mary Shelley. His Inquiry concerning Political Justice 1793 advocated an anarchic society based on a faith in people’s essential rationality. At first a Nonconformist minister, he later became an atheist. His first wife was Mary Wollstonecraft.
Godwin was born in Wisbech, East Anglia, and studied at the Dissenting Academy, Hoxton, London. He became an active campaigner for civil liberties and eventually a publisher of children’s books. Inquiry concerning Political Justice, and its Influence on General Virtue and Happiness was written as part of the debate about the French Revolution.
His philosophical outlook was deterministic, yet he believed that people should increase their awareness of moral choices. Morality was defined by reference to the greatest general good, and he argued that selfish actions bring less pleasure than benevolent ones.
His adventure thriller Caleb Williams 1794 promoted his views. The Inquirer 1797 contains essays on education and economics. Other works include the novels St Leon 1799, Fleetwood 1805, and Mandeville 1817, biographies of Woollstonecraft 1798 and Geoffrey Chaucer 1803, a number of political pamphlets, and The History of the Commonwealth 1824–28.

(1833-1886) English architect. His reputation was established by his competition-winning Gothic Revival design for Northampton Town Hall 1861. However, his style was at its most original in his domestic buildings. His White House in Tite Street, Chelsea, 1877–79, designed for the painter James Whistler (now demolished), suggested Japanese influence with its varied façade and startlingly simple interior of bare, plain-colored walls.

Množina: Godwins

Town in North Carolina (USA); zip code 28344.
Earl of Wessex from 1020. He secured the succession to the throne in 1042 of Edward the Confessor, to whom he married his daughter Edith, and whose chief minister he became. King Harold II was his son.

Množina: Godwin Austens

Mountain 28,250 feet (8611 meters) N Kashmir in Karakoram Range; 2d highest in the world, K2.

Množina: Godwin's Laws

As originally proposed by Internet activist Michael Godwin, the theory that as an online discussion grows longer, a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler will inevitably be made. When a participant in an online discussion resorts to invoking such a comparison, other participants might cite Godwin’s Law to indicate both that the person has lost the argument and that the discussion has continued too long.

Henry Haversham 1834-1923 English explorer and geologist.