Designing a virtuous political economy: an adaptation of Unto This Last emphasizing individual conscience and self determination

Kirsten Madden and Nicholas Armstrong

Review of Social Economy, 2023, vol. 81, issue 2, 304-333

Abstract: Flourishing life being the objective, John Ruskin’s Unto This Last (1866) posits that the implementation of virtue in political economy also reduces inequality and power-over structures of single individuals over multitudes, generates superior product quality and nurtures the ecological system. This essay re-introduces the primary directive of Unto This Last: to design an economics based in virtue. Adopting the virtues of higher order justice, affection, integrity, and ‘sense and firmness,’ this essay replaces Ruskin’s penchant for authoritarian paternalism with responsiveness to individual conscience and respect for self determination. Practical insight into a virtuous political economy includes explicit descriptions of virtuous economic behavior. This virtuous political economy makes explicit assumptions, adopts key definitions, expands on institutions, and reiterates implications.

Date: 2023
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DOI: 10.1080/00346764.2021.1878260

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