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1 - Ruskin’s Romantic Triangle

Neither Wealth Nor Beauty but Life*

from Part I - Plurality of Welfare in the Making of Welfare Economics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 March 2021

By
Yuichi Shionoya
Edited by
Roger E. Backhouse ,
Antoinette Baujard  and
Tamotsu Nishizawa
Roger E. Backhouse
Affiliation:
University of Birmingham and Erasmus University Rotterdam
Antoinette Baujard
Affiliation:
Université de Lyon et Université Jean Monnet à Saint-Étienne
Tamotsu Nishizawa
Affiliation:
Teikyo University Japan
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Summary

Most Ruskin studies deal with his art theory and economic theory separately. This chapter intends to interpret both discourses in a unified way from the viewpoint of romanticism. While his economic theory is famously summarized in a thesis ‘No wealth but life’ the art theory he worked on can be formalized as a thesis ‘No beauty but life’. Thus we have a unified thesis, ‘Neither wealth nor beauty but life’, which may be called ‘Ruskin’s triangle’. I argue that the concept of life is vital for Ruskin’s unified knowledge. It is identified with its three aspects (capability, composition, and labour) and linked with its six symbolic determinants (admiration, hope, and love; air, water, and earth).

Keywords

artcapabilitylabourNo wealth but lifeNo beauty but lifeorganismRomanticismvirtue
Type
Chapter
Information
Welfare Theory, Public Action, and Ethical Values
Revisiting the History of Welfare Economics
 , pp. 21 - 57
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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