The Concept of Luxury: An Exploration of Concepts and History -- Frontiers of the Century

Author: (American) Berry, translated by Jiang Hong
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-05-01
Features: This book provides a conceptual analysis and historical examination of the concept of luxury. Luxury is closely related to people's basic living necessities—clothing, food, shelter, and transportation—and is closely tied to needs and desires. The author considers it a fundamental theme in political science, which has undergone significant changes in its connotation and extension through social transformations from classical, medieval, to modern times. The book focuses on exploring how different schools of thought and scholars have approached luxury from their respective perspectives. Among its achievements, it particularly discusses the "de-moralization" of luxury, interpreting the explorations of the concept of luxury by figures such as Plato, ancient Roman philosophers, early Christian thinkers, and modern thinkers like Marx, Smith, Kant, and Hume. This reveals the distinction between luxury and necessity, as well as the changes in the social order and identity they represent.