diverse populations with a uniform legal code applied
by Roman officials. Such legalism continued in the
West through CATHOLIC Church CANON LAW, English
common law, and American CONSTITUTIONAL law. In
each case, the rule of law diminishes the need for
highly qualified, virtuous, or active CITIZENs because
the mechanism of law can provide JUSTICE. The conse-
quence of this, historically, may be the decline of citi-
zen education and, finally, insufficient personnel to
make or apply the law.
A primary motivation for the rule of law is as a lim-
itation or check on absolutist power or TYRANNY.If
even rulers are subject to the laws, excessive personal
authority or DESPOTICoppression is less likely to occur.
According to this ideal, “no one is above the law,” even
kings, presidents, princes, or popes. The impeachment
of a U.S. president is an example of this rule-of-law
principle, in which a powerful ruler can be removed
from power for breaking the law.
Another advantage to the rule of law is the EQUALITY
of treatment of citizens by the state. Equality before the
lawimplies that rules are upheld fairly, regardless of
the person’s wealth, social position, or fame. Without
universal law, the concept of equal justicewould be
imperiled. Therefore the rule of law underlies MODERN
DEMOCRATICand REPUBLICANgovernment.
Further Readings
Jennings, I. The Law and the Constitution,5th ed. London: Uni-
versity of London Press, 1959.
Lyons, D. Ethics and the Rule of Law.Cambridge, Eng.: Cam-
bridge University Press, 1984.
Ruskin, John (1819–1900) Art critic and social
reformer
Ruskin was an art critic and historian who argued that
the art of a society reflected its social conditions and
that the nature of art provides a framework for assess-
ing and reforming society.
Ruskin opposed the value of INDIVIDUALISM that
accompanied the industrial revolution and the view of
work as mere productivity. He connected the rise of
CAPITALISMwith a splintering of the organic “whole-
ness” of the universe, and he blamed capitalism for
degrading the value of work so that workers, instead
of being creative and fulfilling their natural purposes,
were used as means and tools for making things.
The function of art for Ruskin is to unveil truth
through beauty. Beauty meant two things; first, the
external quality of an object or body and, second, a
fulfillment of function, “more especially of the joyful
and right exertion of perfect life in man.” The former
he called typical beauty and the latter he called vital
beauty. The possibility of revealing truth through
beauty depended not only on the wholeness of the
artist in the act of creation, but also on the nature of
the society in which the art is produced. A corrupt
society is incapable of producing beauty, so a way of
measuring the health of a society is to examine its art.
Ruskin contrasted wealth with what he called
“illth.” He rejected the capitalist notion of wealth as
exclusively exchange value and instead argued that
things had intrinsic value that was represented in their
capacity to contribute to the perfect life. Such things
were true wealth and contributed to the general design
and organic whole of society.
Ruskin’s criticisms of 19th-century capitalism were
an important influence on English SOCIALIST move-
ments, although his positive account of society as an
organic whole is nostalgic, authoritarian, and antiLIB-
ERAL.
Ruskin was born in London, England, and attended
Oxford University.Further Reading
Hobson, J. A. John Ruskin Social Reformer.Boston: Dana Estes
and Company, 1898.Russell, Bertrand (1872–1970) British philoso-
pher and political activist
Born into an aristocratic Liberal family, Russell advo-
cated LEFTISTsocial programs (universal public educa-
tion, welfare for the poor, women’s rights, old-age
pensions, etc.) but criticized MARXIST COMMUNISMas
DESPOTIC and TYRANNICAL. Most of his political
ACTIVISM centered around antiwar, PACIFISM move-
ments. He found warfare irrational and nuclear war-
fare terrifying. He participated widely in antinuclear
protest marches and urged the United States and the
Soviet Union to limit nuclear weapons. He feared U.S.
domination of the world as a new Roman Empire (pax
Americana) for the benefit of U.S. CAPITALISM. Russell
engaged in many protests against U.S. resistance to
communism in Vietnam. He believed in the efficacy of
CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE and urged critical attacks on all
MODERNgovernments, which he claimed were run by
the criminally insane.266 Ruskin, John