The Politics of Bernard Mandeville

Abstract

In recent years there has been a major revival of interest in the work and influence of Bernard Mandeville. Much of this interest has, quite naturally, concentrated on his most famous work, The Fable of the Bees, and on the ethical and literary aspects of his writings. Little attempt has been made to analyse his political thought or to establish his attitude towards contemporary politics. The main reasons which have been put forward for this neglect — that little is known about his political activities, that he deliberately avoided getting involved in political controversies, and that he never wrote an overtly-political work — will not stand up to close scrutiny. Moreover, simply by examining his major works, it is possible to learn a great deal about his view of Whig-Tory disputes in the reign of Queen Anne, about his attitude towards the Court-Country debate during the years of Walpole’s ascendancy, and about his theories concerning the origin and development of political society.