Man-Devil: The Mind and Times of Bernard Mandeville, The Wickedest Man in Europe
Mandeville argued that private vices produce public benefits, and Europe called him the wickedest man alive.
John Callanan examines the Dutch physician and satirist whose Fable of the Bees claimed that greed, vanity and appetite are what make a prosperous society work. The scandal was enormous and the influence on Smith and later economics considerable. A good treatment of a thinker who is cited far more often than he is read.
Recommended by 1 Person
Tyler Cowen
John Callanan, Man-Devil: The Mind and Times of Bernard Mandeville, The Wickedest Man in Europe, is a good treatment of an underrated and still under-read Dutch thinker.
Source · December 2024
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