Global Axess 2024 - David Wootton: Diderot’s Dressing Gown and the Lure of Luxury

Contemporary theorists of consumer behaviour have discovered something they call (following the Canadian anthropologist Grant McCracken) the ‘Diderot effect’. It is named after the French philosopher Denis Diderot (1713-84), who bought himself a new, smart dressing gown. Sitting in his fine apparel and surveying his study, Diderot suddenly realised that it was shabby and untidy. The smart gown required better surroundings, and so steadily everything in the room was replaced: elegant furniture, beautiful paintings, fine tapestries, and an expensive clock took the place of the old junk with which he had previously felt at home. Along with the concept of the Diderot effect goes the concept of the ‘Diderot unity’, which tells us what goes with what: why Montblanc pens and Rolex watches go together, for example. Diderot was also alarmed by the effect that is now named after him. A mysterious force had taken control of his life, driving him into debt, and for what? Did he really care about these objects? Did they really define who he was? Had he changed with the change in his surroundings? Following Diderot’s example, it becomes possible to explore these puzzling questions.
David Wootton is Anniversary Professor of History at the University of York. He works on the intellectual and cultural history of the English-speaking countries, Italy, and France, 1500 to 1800. He is currently writing a book on Voltaire. His most recent publication is Power, Pleasure, and Profit (Harvard). He has given the Carlyle and Besterman Lectures at Oxford, the Raleigh Lecture at the British Academy and the Benedict Lectures at Boston. He was educated at Oxford and Cambridge, and has held positions in history and politics at four British and four Canadian universities, and visiting positions in the US.
Justin Oliver Webb is a British journalist who has worked for the BBC since 1984. He is a former BBC North America Editor and the main co-presenter of BBC one's Breakfast News programme. Since August 2009, he has co-presented the Today programme on BBC Radio 4, and also regularly writes for the Radio Times.