Bernard de Mandeville, 1670-1733.

Bernard de Mandeville (the 'de' is often omitted) was a Dutch physician from Dort who moved to Britain when he was 29.  Mandeville nonetheless quickly honed his skills in the English language by hack translations of La Fontaine and Scarron (into which he inserted two of his own compositions, the "Nightingale and the Owl" and "the Carp"). He also acquired a taste for Augustan satire and, in his adopted language, outdid the locals with his famous poem Grumbling Hive (1705).  The poem was later incorporated in and elaborated upon in his legendary Fable of the Bees (1714), which included remarks on the poem and an expansive essay on the origin of moral virtue

In his Fable of the Bees, subtitled "private vices, publick benefits", Mandeville recounts how evil vices such as luxury, greed, envy, etc., all lead to public benefits by encouraging enterprise. For instance:

Although apparently often treated as a defense of laissez- faire - "Thus every Part was full of Vice/Yet the whole Mass a Paradice" - the Fable can also be seen as a presentation of early underconsumption theory. Anticipating Keynes's paradox of thrift, Mandeville argued that the "moral" activity of saving was actually the cause of recessions whereas luxurious consumption (a "vice") was a stimulus. Indeed, Mandeville argued for government intervention, including the Mercantilist policy of protection to promote internal consumption (see Remarks L, Q and Y). Thus "private Vices by the dextrous Management of a skilled Politician may be turned into publick benefits" (Mandeville, 1714).

In this own theory of 'moral sense', Mandeville agrees primarily from Hobbes that man is a self-seeking, selfish creature, and wholly bereft of natural moral virtues.  Contrary to Shaftesbury, moral sense is not innate but deliberately imposed by political society to curb savage man and suppress his naturally selfish instincts and tendencies.  As man "naturally loves praise", this is done by deftly cultivating artificial concepts such as honour and shame, and indoctrinating man in these concepts via flattery and human pride,

In the second edition of 1723, Mandeville enlarged the Fable by incorporating two essays, "On Charity and Charity-Schools" (directed at reforming societies) and "Search into the Nature of Society" (directed primarily at Shaftesbury).  A public storm ensued as one moralist after another lined up to attack him.  The book was presented as a public nuisance before a Grand Jury in Middlesex. Mandeville replied with a "Vindication of the Book" published originally in newspapers, then added it to the 1724 edition of the Fable.  

In 1729, Mandeville wrote a whole new volume, Fable of the Bees, Part II to explain his thesis more fully.  Although Mandeville had alluded to the idea of division of labor previously (e.g. 1723:  p.411), it is here that Mandeville waxes upon it more famously, discussing how division of labor improves labor productivity (1729: p.243)

Francis Hutcheson attacked Mandeville in a series of letters in 1726 and published an entire book against it.  The empiricist philosopher, Bishop George Berkeley, directed parts of his Alciphron (1730) and his Discourses Addressed to Magistrates (1736) against Mandeville. Mandeville responded to only a few of his legions of critics, e.g. his Letter to Dion (1732) contra Berkeley and his Vindication (1734).

Under a pseudonym, Mandeville is alleged to have been the author of the notorious pamphlet on Modest Defense of Public Stews (1724) urging the establishment of licensed brothels in English cities, written as a satire of public reforming societies (cf. Remarks H &N of the Fable).

Nonetheless, in spite of all the abuse heaved upon him -- even when "Mandeville could prate no more" (A.Pope, Dunciad, II:414) -- he remained an optimist about contemporary society and the advent of commercial capitalism. In the midst of all the turbulence, his controversial works were read with much interest in his day.  In a way, Mandeville's provocative thesis helped launch the Scottish Enlightenment, by forcing Francis Hutcheson, David Hume and Adam Smith, among others, to come up with a theory of 'moral sense' that advanced upon the platitudes of Shaftesbury. 

Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations contains echoes (some say direct borrowings) of Mandevillian insights - the 'private vice, public benefits' thesis (crudely) foreshadows the Smith's 'invisible hand' thesis, Mandeville's discussion of division of labor in society and manufacturing precedes Smith.  Mandeville emphasizes how the wealth of nations depends not on money, but real resources (e.g. Note Q), but he retains  sufficient Mercantilist instincts to argue (tentatively) that a positive trade balance might be a good thing (Note Y).

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