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The Fable of the Bees: Or Private Vices, Publick Benefits In Two Volumes Edition
Contributor(s): Mandeville, Bernard (Author), Kaye, F. B. (Editor)
ISBN: 0865970726     ISBN-13: 9780865970724
Publisher: Liberty Fund
OUR PRICE:   $39.90  
Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats
Published: December 1988
Qty:
Temporarily out of stock - Will ship within 2 to 5 weeks
Additional Information
BISAC Categories:
- Philosophy | Ethics & Moral Philosophy
- Philosophy | Political
Dewey: 170
LCCN: 88000646
Physical Information: 3" H x 6.1" W x 9.1" (3.55 lbs) 1044 pages
 
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc.
Publisher Description:

It used to be that everyone read the "notorious" Bernard Mandeville (1670-1733). He was a great satirist and came to have a profound impact on economics, ethics, and social philosophy.

The Fable of the Bees begins with a poem and continues with a number of essays and dialogues. It is all tied together by the startling and original idea that "private vices" (self-interest) lead to "publick benefits" (the development and operation of society).

From that simple beginning, Mandeville saw that orderly social structures (such as law, language, the market, and even the growth of knowledge) were a spontaneous growth developing out of individual human actions.