Mandeville, Bernard (1670–1733)

Bernard Mandeville was Dutch and English. One of the first modern thinkers to address the relationship between morals and economics, Mandeville is renown for his claim that a prosperous society could be brought about only by self-interested, not virtuous, individuals. Born in or near Rotterdam and trained in medicine at the University of Leiden, Mandeville emigrated to England in the last decade of the 17th century. His thesis, that private vices generate public benefits, first appeared in his poem, “The Grumbling [Page 1322]Hive: Or Knaves Turn'd Honest,” published in 1705. The poem was reissued, in 1714, as The Fable of the Bees and included an essay on the origin of morals and a series of additional remarks on the poem. With another edition of 1723, Mandeville became famous, if not notorious; subsequent editions of the Fable included a second volume with six dialogues. He published a variety of other works, including, in 1732, An Enquiry into the Origin of Honour.

In “The Grumbling Hive,” Mandeville depicts a society of self-interested bees whose trade generates a large and bustling commercial society. In the early 18th century, the reigning opinion held that self-denying virtue—entailing action contrary to a natural passion and in accordance with reason—was essential to the public good. Mandeville contended, in the poem and in the extended editions of the Fable, that we are motivated by self-interested passions, not reason. Through the division of labor, we pursue material gain. Our desires for goods and finery (condemned by some as luxury) provide employment and our trades generate wealth. The standard of living rises, the population grows, and the poor enjoy a better life than did the wealthy of previous generations. Note that Mandeville does not claim that any instance of vice is beneficial, only that which is consonant with a rule of law establishing justice. It is the duty of the politician to secure a legal framework that will serve as the foundation for commercial interaction.

Mandeville's provocative claims provide the basis of much of the 18th-century discussion of morals and society, influencing and challenging David Hume, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and Adam Smith, among others. Today his writing raises a variety of significant issues for ethicists. Not only does his thought raise the question of whether business and self-denying ethics occupy distinct spheres, it also includes an evolutionary account of how norms might emerge out of social interaction. In his attempt to puncture hypocrisy, he also suggests that one must keep in mind both the practical consequences of ideals and whether some goods (such as self-denying virtue) are compatible with others (such as the benefits of commercial growth). Finally, Mandeville is among the first to move away from an anthropomorphic conception of society, according to which all social order must result from someone's intention. The idea of unintended emergence reminds the ethicist that society is complex, that the empirical application of principles demands careful attention, that our reason may be limited, and that good intentions are not sufficient for beneficial outcomes.