Mandeville Analysis
Mandeville Analysis
Getting Ahead in Business: How Vice Drives the Hive
In his doggerel The Grumbling Hive: OR, Knaves Turn’d HONEST, Bernard de Mandeville makes the case that it is our vices (our wishes, wants and desires) that drive society and the economy, and without these vices, the economy will fail. Although Mandeville’s views as expressed in The Grumbling Hive seem harsh or overstated, it appears that the United States economy really cannot flourish without his concept of “vice”.
Defining “Vice” To understand Mandeville’s claim that society is vice-driven, one needs to closely examine The Grumbling Hive which was later included in his larger work, The Fable of the Bees: OR, Private Vices, Publik Benefits. Mandeville starts off by describing “A Spacious Hive well stock’d with Bees, That lived in Luxury and Ease” (Mandeville, 1705, lines 1-2). He states they were a large colony with science and industry and a good government, evidenced by the fact that “They were not Slaves to Tyranny” (Mandeville, 1705, line 9). The bees worked hard at their trades, which served to make the society (the hive) thrive, but he observes that this was not without consequences. He notes that although the hive worked hard and “Millions were employ’d” (Mandeville, 1705, line 35), there was always a separate class or group that worked harder than the rest: “And some were damn’d to Sythes and Spades, And all those hard laborious Trades; Where willing Wretches daily sweat, And wear out Strength and Limbs to eat” (Mandeville, 1705, lines 41-44). He also notes that there is always a group of people who will take advantage of those hard workers for their own gain, and that this deceit was wide-spread and affected all groups and trades. As evidence, he points out that people filed needless lawsuits; lawyers would delay hearings and pocket the retaining fees like burglars looking for the best way to break in; physicians valued money and power over the health
Getting Ahead in Business: How Vice Drives the Hive
In his doggerel The Grumbling Hive: OR, Knaves Turn’d HONEST, Bernard de Mandeville makes the case that it is our vices (our wishes, wants and desires) that drive society and the economy, and without these vices, the economy will fail. Although Mandeville’s views as expressed in The Grumbling Hive seem harsh or overstated, it appears that the United States economy really cannot flourish without his concept of “vice”.
Defining “Vice” To understand Mandeville’s claim that society is vice-driven, one needs to closely examine The Grumbling Hive which was later included in his larger work, The Fable of the Bees: OR, Private Vices, Publik Benefits. Mandeville starts off by describing “A Spacious Hive well stock’d with Bees, That lived in Luxury and Ease” (Mandeville, 1705, lines 1-2). He states they were a large colony with science and industry and a good government, evidenced by the fact that “They were not Slaves to Tyranny” (Mandeville, 1705, line 9). The bees worked hard at their trades, which served to make the society (the hive) thrive, but he observes that this was not without consequences. He notes that although the hive worked hard and “Millions were employ’d” (Mandeville, 1705, line 35), there was always a separate class or group that worked harder than the rest: “And some were damn’d to Sythes and Spades, And all those hard laborious Trades; Where willing Wretches daily sweat, And wear out Strength and Limbs to eat” (Mandeville, 1705, lines 41-44). He also notes that there is always a group of people who will take advantage of those hard workers for their own gain, and that this deceit was wide-spread and affected all groups and trades. As evidence, he points out that people filed needless lawsuits; lawyers would delay hearings and pocket the retaining fees like burglars looking for the best way to break in; physicians valued money and power over the health