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  1. Home
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  3. The Idea of Luxury
  • Cited by 466
Publisher:
Cambridge University Press
Online publication date:
June 2011
Print publication year:
1994
Online ISBN:
9780511558368
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511558368
Subjects:
History of Ideas, History, History of Ideas and Intellectual History
Series:
Ideas in Context (30)
Information

Book description

In this far-ranging and innovative study Christopher Berry explores the meanings and ramifications of the idea of luxury. Insights from political theory, philosophy and intellectual history are utilised in a sophisticated conceptual analysis that is complemented by a series of specific historical investigations. Dr Berry suggests that the value attached to luxury is a crucial component in any society's self-understanding, and shows how luxury has changed from being essentially a negative term, threatening social virtue, to a guileless ploy supporting consumption. His analytic focus upon the interplay between the notions of need and desire suggests that luxuries fall into four categories - sustenance, shelter, clothing and leisure - and these are exemplified in sources as diverse as classical philosophy and contemporary advertising.

Reviews

Berry’s monograph, written throughout with great clarity, provides keys to an understanding of the origins of these contemporary issues. His research will prove useful to historians of ideas and also to specialists in ethics, legal philosophy, economics and politics.

Source: The Oyster Club, The Scottish Journal of Philosophy

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