Unto This Last book cover

Unto This Last

John Ruskin · English text · 30,697 words

John Ruskin challenges conventional political economy and argues that a society should judge wealth by the well-being and relationships it creates.

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Background

These essays apply moral criticism to industrial capitalism and helped shape later debates about labor, value, and social responsibility.

Reading notes

  • Identify the economic assumptions Ruskin is challenging.
  • Separate his moral principles from the examples used to defend them.
  • Ask how his definition of wealth differs from income or property.