Art in its Time: Theories and Practices of Modern Aesthetics

ART AND MONEY
Luxury and corruption
On the one hand, some argued, the opulence of modern society, when compared
to the medieval past or to the “rude” or “barbarous” condition of the
native cultures of the New World, could be traced to the development of commerce,
which stimulated the diversification and improvement of production.
Thus it is originally through foreign trade, according to Hume, that
men become acquainted with the pleasures of luxury, and the profits of
commerce; and their delicacy and industry being once awakened, carry
them on to improvements in every branch of domestic as well as foreign
trade . . . [P]resenting the gayer and more opulent part of the
nation with objects of luxury which they never before dreamed of,
raises in them a desire of a more splendid way of life than what their
ancestors enjoyed . . . Imitation soon diffuses all those arts, while
domestic manufacturers emulate the foreign in their improvements,
and work up every home commodity to the utmost perfection of which
it is susceptible. 19
Growing wealth leads to a growing taste for luxuries, and with them the arts; in
Montesquieu’s words, “Wealth is the result of commerce, luxury the consequence
of wealth, and the perfection of the arts that of luxury.” 20
Montesquieu admits, however, that “commerce corrupts pure morals.” 21 This
corruption is above all visible in the decline of patriotism, the readiness to defend
one’s native land; while commerce makes men more industrious, it also renders
them less courageous. This is due not only to the “softening” effect of devotion to
pleasure but also specifically to the fostering of self-centeredness in a market society.
“The system of commerce often comes down to this principle: each should
work for himself, as I work for myself; I demand nothing from you without offering
you its value; so should you do.” 22 Under such conditions the sentiment of
“generosity” withers as each thinks only of himself. Even Hume, apostle of what
historian J. G. A. Pocock has called “commercial humanism,” distinguishes
“innocent” from “vicious” luxury, which appears when gratification “engrosses
19 “Of Commerce” (1752), in Essays, p. 264.
20 “L’effet du commerce sont les richesses, la suite des richesses le luxe, celle du luxe la perfection
des arts” (L’Esprit des loix, revised edition, XXI.6, in Oeuvres (Amsterdam and Leipzig: Arkstée et
Merkus, 1764), vol. 2, pp. 291–2).
21 Ibid., p. 257 (Esprit, XX.1): “Le commerce corrompt les moeurs pures; c’étoit le sujet des
plaintes de Platon.” A footnote offers as example the Gauls, said by Caesar to have declined to
military inferiority due to the commerce of Marseilles.
22 “Le système du Commerce se réduit souvent à ce principe: que chacun travaille pour soi,
comme je travaille pour moi; je ne vous demande rien qu’en vous en offrant la valeur; faîtes-en
autant” (ibid., p. 257 n).
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