The Fable of the Bees; Or, Private Vices, Public Benefits

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Mandeville, Bernard, 1670-1733

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource : multiple file formats

Place of Publication:

Salt Lake City, UT : Project Gutenberg,

Summary:

"The Fable of the Bees; Or, Private Vices, Public Benefits" by Bernard Mandeville is a philosophical work written in the early 18th century. The text explores the complex interplay between individual vices and the collective benefits they purportedly provide to society. Through allegorical storytelling, Mandeville examines moral values, questioning the conventional notions of virtue while illustrating how personal greed and selfishness can lead to a flourishing civilization. The opening of the work lays out Mandeville's critical view of social dynamics, using the metaphor of a bee hive to symbolize human society. He introduces the concept that the bees (representing people) thrive on both cooperation and vice, suggesting that even the most despised traits contribute to societal success. He critiques the apparent disconnect between the moral expectations of individuals and the economic realities that often require selfish behaviors for communal prosperity. Through this engaging metaphor, Mandeville sets the stage for a deeper inquiry into moral virtue and the nature of society. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Credits:

Produced by Jeroen Hellingman and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net/ for Project Gutenberg (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)

Notes:

Reading ease score: 42.2 (College-level). Difficult to read.

Release date is 2018-06-04