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Bernard Mandeville and the Reality of Virtue

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 February 2009

John Colman
Affiliation:
University of Edinburgh

Extract

Although his subject matter is far from abstract and his arguments comparatively free from obscurity, Bernard Mandeville has generally been acknowledged a difficult philosopher. It is not hard to see why. First, Mandeville deliberately sets out to generate paradoxes. Secondly, he is not a systematic writer. His views are expounded and developed in a number of works of which The Fable of the Bees is only the best known. Thirdly, and most important, he is not solely a philosopher, but also a satirist. His satire is intertwined with his purely philosophical theories and his style is often highly ironic. Any interpretation of Mandeville must consider his philosophical and his satirical intentions.

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Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © The Royal Institute of Philosophy 1972

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