Bernard Mandeville's Discussions Of Morality

Mehvish Siddiqui

Dr. Anju Gurawa

English 0102

10th November 2017

Mandeville 's Impact on Discussions of Morality and Economic Theory in the Early 18th Century

Most of 18th century morality was pitted against the wit of satirists. “A moralist would regard satirists as denying the existence of worth, dissolving morality altogether and encouraging immorality. However, satire is the force of contrast—between profession and practice, between reality and sham; and the denunciation of the sham is by implication the recognition of the reality.” (Selby-Bigge) A satirist is “content to show that what men flatter themselves is moral conduct, is generally immoral conduct when judged by the standard which those men profess. He does not discuss the origin or meaning of that standard itself, the recognition of which is implied in his exposure of the counterfeit.” (Selby-Bigge)

Bernard Mandeville (1670-1733), who belonged to this class

Adam Smith was influenced by Mandeville in his belief that it was self-interest that acted as the “invisible hand” in economic growth (Smith). However, this self-interest was not vicious like Mandeville’s.

In addition to defending the vice of luxury, Mandeville goes on to defend fraud and theft as these provide work to lawyers and locksmiths respectively. It is here that Mandeville’s argument tips over: for if vices can prove to be utilitarian on account of their ability to provide employment, then murder should cease to be a vice if one were to employ a hit man to do the deed. Salim Rashid believes that Mandeville’s defence of luxury is closely connected with libertinism . Francis Hutcheson attributed Mandeville 's peculiar use of words, such as "luxury" and "pride," to his suppressed