Anpa the fame of the best, was published in 17 forty. Great impact there, but came back in 17 23 to great impact. Why was that? And can you tell us a bit about it? Thits is post southsea bubble, for a start. But perhaps it's just this post bubble period when there's been a religious revival. There's also this great demand for the public to reform itself,. Also for the people at the top, like walpole, to be virtuous.
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