Mandevil: We're so indoctrinated into the economy of esteem, into seeking approval. He says by three a young girl knows not to show her leg in male company. She's no idea of sexual morality or anything of what is going on. There's a proper way to be changes from age to age and he thinks we have got trapped with a moral code which is out of date. In general, you lose certain things as you move into a more permissive society, you gain certain things - i think manderville sees that too.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Bernard Mandeville (1670-1733) and his critique of the economy as he found it in London, where private vices were condemned without acknowledging their public benefit. In his poem The Grumbling Hive (1705), he presented an allegory in which the economy collapsed once knavish bees turned honest. When republished with a commentary, The Fable of the Bees was seen as a scandalous attack on Christian values and Mandeville was recommended for prosecution for his tendency to corrupt all morals. He kept writing, and his ideas went on to influence David Hume and Adam Smith, as well as Keynes and Hayek.
With
David Wootton
Anniversary Professor of History at the University of York
Helen Paul
Lecturer in Economics and Economic History at the University of Southampton
And
John Callanan
Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at King’s College London
Producer: Simon Tillotson