丹尼爾．笛福（Daniel Defoe）與十八世紀初的奢華辯論

Daniel Defoe and the Debate on Luxury in the 18th Century

奢華在十八世紀初的英格蘭是備受爭議的話題，許多思想家針對奢侈品的道德含義及其在經濟上的必要性展開了辯論，而著名小說家與政論作者笛福(Daniel Defoe, 1660-1731)也參與了這場辯論。笛福曾經撰寫過大量關於商人與商業的著作，過去學者對於笛福對奢華的看法因此有所討論，但是關於笛福與當代作家——特別是學界公認此辯論中的重要作家曼德維爾(Bernard Mandeville, 1670-1733)——對奢華看法之細緻異同，則尚未有令人滿意的研究。本文主旨便是要釐清並且清楚描述、對比笛福與同時代作家的異同與彼此之間的辯論。以下第一部分回顧了當代關於奢華辯論的既有成果，以及本文所能貢獻之面向。第二部分則是精要地指出十八世紀初的這場辯論之重要參與者，以及重要的辯論面向，主要是透過這場辯論中的代表性作家曼德維爾與笛福之異同來展開討論。第三部分將重點放在笛福對奢侈品的定義，以及他如何以寫給商人的手冊《英格蘭商人全書》來捍衛適度奢侈的必要性和正當性。第四部分通過實例探討了貿易、奢侈和邪惡之間的辯證關係，以及它們之間的界限所在。第五部分則是將奢侈之發展放入了笛福對於文明的思考之中。笛福認為奢侈不僅能夠促進國家之強盛，而且在生活當中富含比過往更加細緻之享受，正象徵了該社會已經在文明上進入了更高之階段。最後一部分總結道，笛福指出奢侈品雖對於人類之生存無實質性意義，卻提高了大眾的生活水準，維持和改善了窮人的生活；奢侈品的存在因此是有必要的。在十八世紀初這個嶄新的商業時代當中，笛福雖未建立起調和道德與奢華之間衝突關係的論述，不過他已相對全面地從國家的強盛以及大多數人民的生計，來強調全面擁抱奢侈品會比嚴格地禁絕奢侈品來得有利。對於食衣住行的過度講究雖然是種不幸，但是在這個時代卻已經跟眾人的公共利益緊緊結合在一塊。

Luxury was a hotly debated topic in early eighteenth-century England, with many thinkers debating its moral implications and economic necessity, a debate in which the famous novelist and political writer Daniel Defoe took part. Scholars have previously discussed Defoe’s views on luxury as a result of his extensive writings on business and commerce, but there has been no discussion of the nuanced differences between Defoe’s views on luxury and those of contemporary writers, particularly Mandeville, who is regarded as an important writer in this debate. The goal of this paper is to clarify, describe, and contrast the similarities and differences in Defoe’s and his contemporaries’ views on luxury as well as their debates. The first part of the paper reviews the existing scholarship on these debates on luxury and the fields to which this paper will contribute. The second section highlights the key participants in this early eighteenth-century debate and the important aspects of the debate, mainly through its representative writer, Mandeville, and the differences and similarities between him and Defoe. The third section will focus on Defoe’s definition of luxury and how he defended the necessity and propriety of moderate luxury in his handbook for traders. The fourth section explores the dialectical relationship between trade, luxury, and evil through practical examples, and where the line between them lies. In the fifth part, the development of luxury is put into the context of Defoe’s thinking about civilization. Defore argues that luxury not only promotes the strength of nations but also enriches life with more refined pleasures than in the past, which does not necessarily mean degradation. Defoe points out that luxury is not only in the form of food, clothing, housing, and other expensive items but also in the form of coffee and tea, items that have nothing to do with human survival. Ultimately, Defoe points out that although the excessive attention to food, clothing, housing, and transportation is unfortunate, but by his day and age, it had already become closely bound up with the common good.