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The Ethics of the Dust
This is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curated for quality. Quality assurance was conducted on each of these books in an attempt to remove books with imperfections introduced by the digitization process. Though we have made best efforts - the books may have occasional errors that do not impede the reading experience. We believe this work is culturally important and have elected to bring the book back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide.
- GenresPhilosophyEssays
172 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1866
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About the author
John Ruskin
3,857 books497 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.
John Ruskin was an English writer, philosopher, art historian, art critic and polymath of the Victorian era. He wrote on subjects as varied as geology, architecture, myth, ornithology, literature, education, botany and political economy.
Ruskin was heavily engaged by the work of Eugène-Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc which he taught to all his pupils including William Morris, notably Viollet-le-Duc's Dictionary, which he considered as "the only book of any value on architecture". Ruskin's writing styles and literary forms were equally varied. He wrote essays and treatises, poetry and lectures, travel guides and manuals, letters and even a fairy tale. He also made detailed sketches and paintings of rocks, plants, birds, landscapes, architectural structures and ornamentation. The elaborate style that characterised his earliest writing on art gave way in time to plainer language designed to communicate his ideas more effectively. In all of his writing, he emphasised the connections between nature, art and society.
Ruskin was hugely influential in the latter half of the 19th century and up to the First World War. After a period of relative decline, his reputation has steadily improved since the 1960s with the publication of numerous academic studies of his work. Today, his ideas and concerns are widely recognised as having anticipated interest in environmentalism, sustainability and craft.
Ruskin first came to widespread attention with the first volume of Modern Painters (1843), an extended essay in defence of the work of J.M.W. Turner in which he argued that the principal role of the artist is "truth to nature". From the 1850s, he championed the Pre-Raphaelites, who were influenced by his ideas. His work increasingly focused on social and political issues. Unto This Last (1860, 1862) marked the shift in emphasis. In 1869, Ruskin became the first Slade Professor of Fine Art at the University of Oxford, where he established the Ruskin School of Drawing. In 1871, he began his monthly "letters to the workmen and labourers of Great Britain", published under the title Fors Clavigera (1871–1884). In the course of this complex and deeply personal work, he developed the principles underlying his ideal society. As a result, he founded the Guild of St George, an organisation that endures today.
John Ruskin was an English writer, philosopher, art historian, art critic and polymath of the Victorian era. He wrote on subjects as varied as geology, architecture, myth, ornithology, literature, education, botany and political economy.
Ruskin was heavily engaged by the work of Eugène-Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc which he taught to all his pupils including William Morris, notably Viollet-le-Duc's Dictionary, which he considered as "the only book of any value on architecture". Ruskin's writing styles and literary forms were equally varied. He wrote essays and treatises, poetry and lectures, travel guides and manuals, letters and even a fairy tale. He also made detailed sketches and paintings of rocks, plants, birds, landscapes, architectural structures and ornamentation. The elaborate style that characterised his earliest writing on art gave way in time to plainer language designed to communicate his ideas more effectively. In all of his writing, he emphasised the connections between nature, art and society.
Ruskin was hugely influential in the latter half of the 19th century and up to the First World War. After a period of relative decline, his reputation has steadily improved since the 1960s with the publication of numerous academic studies of his work. Today, his ideas and concerns are widely recognised as having anticipated interest in environmentalism, sustainability and craft.
Ruskin first came to widespread attention with the first volume of Modern Painters (1843), an extended essay in defence of the work of J.M.W. Turner in which he argued that the principal role of the artist is "truth to nature". From the 1850s, he championed the Pre-Raphaelites, who were influenced by his ideas. His work increasingly focused on social and political issues. Unto This Last (1860, 1862) marked the shift in emphasis. In 1869, Ruskin became the first Slade Professor of Fine Art at the University of Oxford, where he established the Ruskin School of Drawing. In 1871, he began his monthly "letters to the workmen and labourers of Great Britain", published under the title Fors Clavigera (1871–1884). In the course of this complex and deeply personal work, he developed the principles underlying his ideal society. As a result, he founded the Guild of St George, an organisation that endures today.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
November 15, 2016
"The great difficulty is always to open people’s eyes : to touch their feelings and break their hearts, is easy, the difficult thing is to break their heads. What does it matter as long as they remain stupid, whether you change their feelings or not? You cannot always be at their elbow to tell them what is right and they may just do as wrong as before or worse, and their best intentions merely make the road smooth for them."
"We can make ourselves uncomfortable to any extent with perhapses."
"And it is very nice, in the midst of a wild world, to have the very idea of poetical justice done always to one’s hand : – to have everybody found out, who tells lies; and everybody decorated with a red ribbon, who doesn’t. … But it isn’t life : and, in the the way children might easily understand it, it isn’t morals."
"My dear, it means simply that you are to go the road which you see to be the straight one; carrying whatever you find is given you to carry, as well as stoutly as you can; without making faces, or calling people to come and look at you. Above all, you are neither to load, nor unload, yourself; nor cut your cross to your own liking. Some people think it would be better for them to have it large; and many, that they could carry it much faster if it were small; and even those who like it largest are usually very particularly about its being ornemental, and made of the best ebony. But all that you have really to do is to keep your back as straight as you can; and not think about what is upon it – above all, not to boast of what is upon it. The real and essential meaning of « virtue » is in that straightness of back."
"Well, Lily, we must go through a little dreadfulness, that’s a fact : no road to any good knowledge is wholly among the lilies and the grass; there is rough climbing to be done always."
More : https://fabulogie.wordpress.com/2016/...
"We can make ourselves uncomfortable to any extent with perhapses."
"And it is very nice, in the midst of a wild world, to have the very idea of poetical justice done always to one’s hand : – to have everybody found out, who tells lies; and everybody decorated with a red ribbon, who doesn’t. … But it isn’t life : and, in the the way children might easily understand it, it isn’t morals."
"My dear, it means simply that you are to go the road which you see to be the straight one; carrying whatever you find is given you to carry, as well as stoutly as you can; without making faces, or calling people to come and look at you. Above all, you are neither to load, nor unload, yourself; nor cut your cross to your own liking. Some people think it would be better for them to have it large; and many, that they could carry it much faster if it were small; and even those who like it largest are usually very particularly about its being ornemental, and made of the best ebony. But all that you have really to do is to keep your back as straight as you can; and not think about what is upon it – above all, not to boast of what is upon it. The real and essential meaning of « virtue » is in that straightness of back."
"Well, Lily, we must go through a little dreadfulness, that’s a fact : no road to any good knowledge is wholly among the lilies and the grass; there is rough climbing to be done always."
More : https://fabulogie.wordpress.com/2016/...
December 29, 2019
Even though it is apparent that Ruskin wrote this book under the belief that girls could handle the study of geology, his whole attitude towards all of the girls in his class was very degrading. They had questions, and he merely teased answers or complained that he was too cross today to answer any of them. Besides which, he told all of the girls that their only aim in life is to want to dance, sew, and cook—basically just look pretty and be of use. I do not quite understand his reasoning, for if he truly believes this why has he written a book about geology for girls?
Also far too often he interposes his own political and religious viewpoints, which are not founded in anything but his opinion rather than any biblical truth. He will say something based on one verse, which he twists to fit his opinion, and disregard other verses, which speak Truth against Ruskin’s falseness.
The only thing good I’ve taken out of this book was the story in the beginning about the valley of diamonds and the singing serpents, but even that was explained away in the notes at the end, which I did not take kindly too. There were also a few fresh ideas scattered here and there, but overall the book was too condescending.
Also far too often he interposes his own political and religious viewpoints, which are not founded in anything but his opinion rather than any biblical truth. He will say something based on one verse, which he twists to fit his opinion, and disregard other verses, which speak Truth against Ruskin’s falseness.
The only thing good I’ve taken out of this book was the story in the beginning about the valley of diamonds and the singing serpents, but even that was explained away in the notes at the end, which I did not take kindly too. There were also a few fresh ideas scattered here and there, but overall the book was too condescending.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews