NASARA JOURNAL OF PHILOSOPHY

This work examines the prospects of moral improvement in human beings through an appraisal of human perfectability and social communication in the political philosophy of William Godwin. It addresses the fundamental question of whether human beings are capable of improving their moral conduct and adopting more benevolent social relations, or whether human nature imposes fixed limits on such transformation. If improvement is possible, what then is the best means to facilitate steady moral progress? Drawing from Godwin's Enquiry Concerning Political Justice, written in the intellectual climate of French Revolution, this work explores his claim that human beings are capable of indefinite moral perfectability and that open social communication is at the core of the process. Godwin posits that Social progress could be attained when Individuals are intellectually independent. And this is possible through free and rational communication. On the contrary, due to advancement in technology and global communication technology, human beings seem to appear to be self-destructive and this is a challenge to Godwin's claims of human Perfectability. The central problem of this study is therefore to assess how successful Godwin was in establishing political justice on human perfectibility and social communication. Employing critical and analytic philosophical methods, the study argues that while Godwin's theory is coherent and plausible at the theoretical level, it faces practical limitations, particularly his emphasis on open communication within small groups. Consequently, the study proposes the digital public sphere as a more viable alternative for promoting moral and social improvement in contemporary society.

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