Of Refinement in the Arts (1777) [ Concepts ]
… it; while men of libertine principles bestow praises even on vicious luxury, and represent it as highly advantageous to society; and on the other hand, men of severe morals blame even the most innocent luxury, and represent it as the source … and when carried a degree too far, is a quality pernicious, though perhaps not the most pernicious, to political society. To prove the first point, we need but consider the effects of refinement both on private and on public … the growth of unnatural ones, which commonly spring up, when nourished by ease and idleness. Banish those arts from society, you deprive men both of action and of pleasure; and leaving nothing but indolence in their place, you even …
Commerce | Refinement | Luxury | Charity | Corruption | Democracy | Disorder | Happiness
Anthology