John Ruskin, His Social Philosophy

The purpose of this thesis is to set forth the teachings of John Ruskin, to explain them in the light of the day in which he lived, to compare them with recent economic thought, and to point out their influence on the trend of economic thought. With this in mind the author set out first , to develop briefly, the social and economic doctrines preceding and during the time of John Ruskin in order to better understand Ruskin’s social philosophy. To still further enlighten the reader concerning the philosophy of Ruskin a brief biography is presented in which the influence of his early religious training is stressed together with the influence of the ancient philosophers and with the influence of his teacher, Thomas Carlyle. With this background in view the social philosophy was developed from the letters, lectures and essays of John Ruskin. With this material before him the author compared the teachings and doctrines of John Ruskin with those of his contemporaries and with those of his predecessors. It was also interesting to compare his philosophy with that of today and to show how his teachings have influenced the trend of social development.