投资 · 西方古典
托斯丹·凡勃伦:有闲阶级论·摘录 71
托斯丹·凡勃伦《有闲阶级论》· The Theory of the Leisure Class · 投资
The fast horse, then, is aesthetically fortunate, in that the canon of pecuniary good repute legitimates a free appreciation of whatever beauty or serviceability he may possess. His pretensions have the countenance of the principle of conspicuous waste and the backing of the predatory aptitude for dominance and emulation. The horse is, moreover, a beautiful animal, although the race-horse is so in no peculiar degree to the uninstructed taste of those persons who belong neither in the class of race-horse fanciers nor in the class whose sense of beauty is held in abeyance by the moral constraint of the horse fancier's award. To this untutored taste the most beautiful horse seems to be a form which has suffered less radical alteration than the race-horse under the breeder's selective development of the animal. Still, when a writer or speaker--especially of those whose eloquence is most consistently commonplace wants an illustration of animal grace and serviceability, for rhetorical use, he habitually turns to the horse; and he commonly makes it plain before he is done that what he has in mind is the race-horse.
出处:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/833
定位:Excerpt 71 · 核对日期:2026-10-19 · 核验:短摘录
白话
赛马之所以在审美上占便宜,是因为金钱声望的原则允许人们自由欣赏它的美和实用。它既有炫耀性浪费撑腰,又有掠夺性支配和攀比心理背书。马本身是美的,但赛马在没受过训练的人眼里并不特别美;这些人觉得最漂亮的马是没被育种改造得太厉害的那种。不过,当作家或演说家需要举例动物优雅和实用时,他们总想到马,而且往往指的是赛马。这说明品味是被圈子塑造的。
上下文
凡勃伦讨论赛马如何因金钱声望而获得审美合法性,揭示品味的社会建构。
今日一问
你欣赏的“美”,有多少是圈子告诉你的?
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