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The Fable of the Bees or Private Vices, Publick Benefits, 2 vols.

Mandeville is a witty satirist who used a poem to make the profound economic point that “private vices” (or self-interest) lead to “publick benefits” (such as orderly social structures like law, language, and markets).

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The Fable of the Bees or Private Vices, Publick Benefits, 2 vols. With a Commentary Critical, Historical, and Explanatory by F.B. Kaye (Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 1988).

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Adam Smith (Author)

In his classic book The Theory of Moral Sentiments, Smith attacks Mandeville’s contention that all public spirited or altruistic behavior is merely self interested. He bases his arguments on the strength of human sympathy and our social natures. Of course Smith acknowledges the importance of self interest in his other major work, The Wealth of Nations but unlike Mandeville he believes self interest and other regarding interest are both natural and compatible for in a successful society.

Friedrich August von Hayek (Author)

Hayek praised Mandeville and was heavily influenced by Mandeville’s arguments on self-deception and biases. Hayek included discussions about Mandeville’s writing in The Road to Serfdom, Individualism: True and False as well as his classic AER article The Use of Knowledge in Society.

John Maynard Keynes (Author)

Keynes cited Mandeville as an historical example of the problems with an over emphasis on thrift in society and his own theory of “effective demand”. Keynes was very influential in bringing Mandeville back to prominence along with Hayek, which is strange considering that the two men debated frequently over economic matters.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau (Author)

Rousseau directly cites and engages with Mandeville in his Discourses on Inequality. While Rousseau acknowledges Mandeville’s observation about the limits of human generosity in addressing social ills, he noted inconsistencies in Mandeville’s arguments on this point.

Critical Responses

Book The Theory of Moral Sentiments and on the Origins of Languages (Stewart ed.)

Adam Smith

Adam Smith’s The Theory of Moral Sentiments - written shortly after Mandeville’s death Smith takes issue with Mandeville’s characterization of human nature and the mechanisms he employs to understand wealth creation and social harmony.

Book The Company of Strangers: A Natural History of Economic Life

Paul Seabright

Paul Seabright’s The Company of Strangers - his history of economic social life uses Mandeville and other 16th and 17th century philosophers as a contrast to the unintended changes that modern markets have brought to contemporary society.

Connected Readings

Liberty Matters Mandeville, Hayek, and the Politics of Self-Esteem

Mikko Tolonen, Jimena Hurtado, Dario Castiglione, and Andrea Branchi

In this Liberty Matters edition, the authors explores Mandeville’s influence on Hayek as well as the evolution of Hayek’s thought on human biases and heuristics.

Journal Article The Influence of Bernard Mandeville

F. B. Kaye

Kaye was perhaps the world’s leading Mandeville scholar of his generation and this review provides readers with an important introduction to the contemporary impact Mandeville had on British and Europe intellectual and social life in the 17th and 18th centuries. He notes to readers that the Grumbling Hive was not merely provocative for scholars, it caused a social uproar as well.

Journal Article Mandeville against Luxury

Brandon P. Turner

Taylor takes an unconventional position on Mandeville by arguing that the Dutch and British physician and philosopher was in fact concerned about excess luxury and vice. He notes that not only is his writing on the matter more nuanced than is normally accepted but he also brings in evidence from Mandeville’s medical practice showing that he discouraged his patiences from excessive living.

Video Interview Liberty Matters Author Interview: Dario Castiglione

G. Patrick Lynch

Liberty Matters Author Interview

Author Interview with Dario Castiglione on the contemporary understanding of Mandeville and modern democratic theory.

Journal Article Bernard Mandeville on the Use and Abuse of Hypocrisy

Robin Douglass

Douglas attempts to reconstruct a 17th century debate on the basis of ethics between two Liberty Fund authors - Shaftsbury and Mandeville. Mandeville famously attacked Shaftsbury for not accepting that hypocrisy was frequently an important motivation for human behavior, but few scholars have detailed the specifics of his critique. Here Douglas tries to do just that.

Book Mandeville's Fable: Pride, Hypocrisy, and Sociability

Robin Douglass

Douglass looks beyond the notoriety of Mandeville’s great work to reclaim its status as one of the most incisive philosophical studies of human nature and the origin of society in the Enlightenment era. Focusing on Mandeville’s moral, social, and political ideas, Douglass offers a revelatory account of why we should take Mandeville seriously as a philosopher.