Bernard Mandeville
A prosperous society lives on the passions morality condemns: private vices, public benefits.
Life
Dutch-born physician and writer (c. 1670-1733), settled in London. His verse fable of a hive that prospers on the vices of its bees, which grew into The Fable of the Bees, scandalised his time. He argues that selfishness, luxury and pride drive the economy and that virtue alone would not sustain a nation. He matters for the questions on morality and justice.
Main works
The expanded version of the fable: "private vices, public benefits".
The verse poem in which prosperous bees lose their wealth when they become virtuous.
Explains honour as a product of pride and life in society.
In his own words
« Thus every part was full of vice, Yet the whole mass a paradise; »
« Fraud, luxury, and pride must live, While we the benefits receive: »
Positions
click a row to see the evidenceMoral virtue was invented by clever politicians who flattered people to make them governable; it is not a fact of nature.
Mandeville, Enquiry into the Origin of Moral Virtue, dans La Fable des abeilles (1714)
People are ruled by self-love and pride, not by natural benevolence.
Mandeville, La Fable des abeilles (1714, éd. augmentée 1723)