John Ruskin, or the Ambiguities of Abundance: A Study in Social and Economic Criticism

James Clark Sherburne

Published by Harvard University Press 1972

John Ruskin, or the Ambiguities of Abundance

A Study in Social and Economic Criticism

James Clark Sherburne

https://doi.org/10.4159/harvard.9780674422940

Overview
Contents

About this book

Until 1860 John Ruskin's writings were primarily about art and architecture; but his belief that good art can flourish only in a society that is sound and healthy led him inevitably to a preoccupation with social and economic problems, the dominant concern of his later writings. James Clark Sherburne provides in this volume a detailed and long overdue re-examination of Ruskin's social and economic perceptions and, for the first time, systematically places these perceptions in their nineteenth-century intellectual context.

Ruskin's eloquence and the strength of his moral, aesthetic, and social convictions established him as one of the most influential of Victorian writers. His writings, however, are not easily categorized and many of his important insights occur as digressions in discussions of other topics. Mr. Sherburne succeeds in ordering and clarifying the rich chaos of Ruskin's social thought without denying that wholeness which is, paradoxically, its salient feature. He discovers the source of Ruskin's social criticism in his early writings. He then follows Ruskin's interest as it shifts from economic theory to the problems of exploitation, war, imperialism, the means of social reform, and the construction of the welfare state.

Ruskin's remarkably early vision of the possibility of economic abundance, his anticipation of its social and personal implications, his much disparaged critique of classical economics, his pioneering attention to the role of the consumer and the quality of consumption, his anxious portrayal of the effects of industrialism on the environment, his critique of English educational methods, and his farsighted proposals for public management of industry and transport are among the many aspects of Ruskin's thought examined by Mr. Sherburne. What emerges is an original and exhaustive study of a dimension of Ruskin's work which, though much neglected, is particularly relevant to contemporary concerns.

Author information

Sherburne James Clark :

James Clark Sherburne received the 1966 Ruskin Prize awarded by Harvard University.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Preface Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	ix
I. Purity Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
II. Drive to Humanity Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	26
III. Broken Circle Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	56
IV. Streams of Abundance Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	69
V. Bastard Science Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	94
VI. Shattered Majesty Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	124
VII. System of Iniquity Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	171
VIII. War and Empire Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	196
IX. The Insolence of Reaction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	209
X. Public Thing Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	237
XI. The New Man Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	263
Epilogue Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	298
Selected Bibliography Notes Index
Selected Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	305
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	315
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	353

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Copyright year: 1972
Edition: Reprint 2014
Audience: Professional and scholarly;
Pages
- Front matter: 12
- Main content: 366
Keywords: Ruskin, John, 1819-1900 -- Political and social views.; Great Britain -- Economic conditions -- 19th century.; LITERARY CRITICISM / General; SOCIAL SCIENCE / Sociology / General; LITERARY CRITICISM / European / English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh

eBook

Published: October 1, 2013
ISBN: 9780674422940

Hardcover

Published: February 5, 1972
ISBN: 9780674422926