Egoism or altruism? This question kicked off the eighteenth century, pitting Mandeville and Shaftesbury against one another; their debate is the background to Smith’s economic thought. These men were a study in contrasts. Bernard Mandeville (1670-1733) was a Dutchman living in London, earning his keep as a doctor and writing on the side controversial…
What is a luxury face? A London plastic surgeon speaks about the Beautiful Face, a composite of the requests he gets from clients.[1] The chin most desired by his clients belongs to Selina Gomez and the eyes to Keira Knightley: the nose the Duchess of Cambridge. About that famous nose, the surgeon, Dr. Julian Da…
Fashion’s moral failings are widely broadcast. A leading polluter of the planet, a leading beneficiary of slavery, a pernicious influence on body image and self-esteem, to name a few. It is worth recalling perhaps that fashion is also a principal support of moral order. To some in fashion, this is not welcome news: they…
Tolkien-inspired tattoo design by up-and-coming Baltimore artist: https://www.instagram.com/jaynejezebelle/ ~~~~~~~~~~~ Personalism is the root philosophy of CST. Applications of CST to fashion, or any other industry, will have personalism in play. My previous post on the topic (http://www.ethicsoffashion.com/catholic-personalism-and-non-ego-psychology/) argued that Karol Wojtyla’s personalism affirms ego psychology. Before we point to a turn in his…
*Over the next few weeks I will add a few posts about St. John Paul the Great’s contributions to personalism. It’s the account of ethics that underwrites CST and these posts will compliment nicely V&R Chapters 2 and 3 on Francis and Benedict respectively. In light of the discussion of Przywara on the self…
In Lacan’s psychoanalysis a person is both rich and poor. Rich because ornamental but poor for precisely the same reason. You and I only understand ourselves through words and symbols. There is no self-definition that does not rely on these means of communication. This fact necessarily puts each of us at a distance from…
Over at Law & Liberty I have a new post on how to think about innovation and nature. An implication of that connection is how to attain sustainable fashion. The question also touches upon the politics of fashion. Hope you like: http://www.libertylawsite.org/2018/07/02/is-classical-liberalism-pernicious-why-liberalism-failed-deneen-reply/
Articles abound about the political meaning of clothes worn on certain occasions or the political significance of words on some jackets. Such reflection is certainly appropriate but reading this excellent piece by Joel Kotkin (https://www.city-journal.org/html/new-demo-pessimism-15991.html) deepens our understanding of the political role luxury fashion might play. V&R Chapter 1 assesses David Hume’s argument about…
Much-loved at V&R is this quote from Lord Shaftesbury: “There is a power in numbers, harmony, proportion and beauty of every kind, which naturally captivates the heart and raises the imagination to an opinion or conceit of something majestic and divine.” Much-loved because, I think, true. V&R has documented examples of its truth before…
A revised version of this post will appear in September at https://voegelinview.com/ ~~~~~~~~~~~ In his Letters, Tolkien often mentions working in his garden. He was a keen plantsman: “I am in fact a Hobbit (in all but size). I like gardens, trees, and unmechanized farmlands; I smoke a pipe, and like good plain food…