Lark tongues in aspic: Luxury foods and the re-moralization of luxury

Until modern times, luxury consumption of food and other goods was generally condemned on moral and other grounds. With the Enlightenment a new approach emerges with thinkers like David Hume, according to which there are also beneficial forms of luxury that contribute to economic growth and peace through cultivation of refinement. The process where luxury came to be seen as not only condemnable has been called 'the de-moralization' of luxury. It might be argued that we today see a 'remoralization' of luxury. Two types of contemporary argument against the consumption of luxury food are discussed. First, that luxury food consumption is condemnable because of the harm it does, directly or indirectly. Secondly, that luxury consumption is incompatible with certain virtues. It is argued that such arguments will require considerable elaboration to be effective, since they tend to hit some luxuries, but not all - and things that are not luxuries will be affected too. The tentative conclusion is that the value of 'luxury' as a moral concept is doubtful.