The Fable of the Bees: Or Private Vices, Publick Benefits (Penguin Classics) [Paperback]

Bernard Mandeville (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 5, 1989 | Series: Penguin Classics

A physician with a particular interest in psychological disorders and satirist, Mandeville published versions of his notorious "Fable of the Bees" from 1714 to 1732. Each was a defence and elaboration of his short satirical poem "The Angry Hive, 1705". The version of the Fable of 1723 and 1732 are the fullest defences of his early paradox that social benefit is the unintended consequence of personal vice. It is an argument that is generally held to lie behind Adam Smith's doctrine of the 'hidden hand' of economic development.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Mandeville...anticipated Oscar Wilde in choosing his enemies with great care, and within his own century they included David Hume, Adam Smith, and Francis Hutcheson. He could afford even such enemies because his friends and admirers have been legion." --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

About the Author

Mandeville, Bernard (1670-1733)

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Classics (September 5, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140445412
• ISBN-13: 978-0140445411
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #392,436 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unmasking Social Convention, January 29, 2008

By 

Ian Mackechnie - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Fable of the Bees: Or Private Vices, Publick Benefits (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

Mandeville does a sterling job in unmasking social convention. His fable, upon which he provides his own commentary, stripes the outer layers of social convention from the reader and examines man from the perspective of his basic selfishness.

Mandeville has been criticized by many, whom he recognized, that have not even read his works. His work is still now largely neglected and unread., partly due to the quaintness of his 18th century writing style. But what a treasure awaits those who have the patience and perseverance to read this delightful work of ruthless honesty.

For example, Mandeville describes marriage mainly in terms of lust, not much different from the modern evolutionary psychologists. Prostitution is defended in pragmatic terms in that it 'protects' the family! Rulers who devote more time to the outward trapping of power and neglect such things as an adequate defense or police system come in for a serving. And on and on it goes ...

Mandeville is important in that the likes of Hume and Adam Smith were not only aware of his work, but influenced, in a positive way, by it. Mandeville, in terms of the development of our understanding of morals and society, cannot be neglected.

If you want to look society... and ourselves... honestly in the face, then this is the book.

My advice is buy the Libery Fund 2 volume edition

23 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting, February 9, 2001

By 

Gary Malone (Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Fable of the Bees: Or Private Vices, Publick Benefits (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

I first read an extract from this in second year English in university, and thought the author had some interesting ideas. Although the blurb casts the book as part of the great age of 17th-century English satire, it's more of a straight critique of society than a sarcastic diatribe, and probably doesn't warrant comparison with say, Swift's A Modest Proposal.

From what I can remember, the book is all about the changes taking place in society at the time, especially with the growth in the importance of commerce. Much of it concerns hypocrisy and some moral paradoxes that seem to go unnoticed. Mandeville's starting-point is to liken society to a hive, wherein the behaviour of the bees, though individually selfish, aggregates to form a kind of common good. The book was banned by the Grand Jury of Middlessex, and I suspect that much of the controversy resulted from readers mistaking description for prescription. In other words, people seem to have concluded that Mandeville was saying that this is how society ought to behave, whereas he was merely making observations.

His ideas are interesting, but I can't agree with all of them. One egregious error occurs when he makes the sweeping generalisation that morality is frequently selfishly motivated, using the following argument. Most people, if they see a baby falling from a high window, will rush to try and save it, not out of the child's interests, but merely to spare themselves the pain of seeing the child injured or killed. The next obvious question never seems to enter Mandeville's mind: if people are truly selfish, how would they have developed the empathy to feel the child's pain that strongly to begin with? So: a good commentator but perhaps not a brilliant thinker.