Progress and Harmony in Modern Politics: the Case of John Stuart Mill and John Ruskin (Medievalism, Utilitarianism).

John Stuart Mill's political economy, and John Ruskin's critique of it, constitute the stepping stone for a study of their theses concerning modern politics. This dissertation examines their contrasting views on a number of key issues, including empiricism and intuitionism, science and art, commercialization and its socio-political outcomes, growth and the limits to growth, industry and agriculture, as well as their different approaches to the meaning modernity. By dividing their social and political prescriptions into three main aspects--economic systems, social atmospheres, and governmental procedures--the dissertation discusses their proposals concerning industrial socialism and agricultural self-sufficiency, the modern conception of liberty and the ancient notion of libertas, and representation and paternalism. These three elements are treated as complementary parts of each thinker's political vision. An explication of how their ideas in these regards may be related to their views on sexual politics is then given. The dissertation argues that their different framework of ideas stems largely from Mill's belief in progress and Ruskin's faith in harmony. The main flaw in Mill's thought, it contends, results from his frequent use of the idea of progress without adequately substantiating it. Ruskin, on the other h and , always applies his theory of harmony without fruitfully locating it in the changing situation of modern times. In addition to the discussions of John Stuart Mill's and John Ruskin's thoughts, the dissertation also relates their points to relevant contemporary debates concerning the relationship of ecology, epistemology, and economics to modern political issues.Ph.D.Political scienceUniversity of Michiganhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/161594/1/8720344.pd