Capitalist Values, Virtues and Vices:The Battle of the Bees

The expansion of international trade and commerce in Europe during the 17^th and 18^th centuries resulted not only in the increased prosperity of Western Europe, but also in the transformation of its traditional values.  Perceptive thinkers realized that the austere morality of ancient philosophy and medieval theology were out of sync with the new economy.  Some wanted to replace the virtues of the past with a less demanding concatenation of good manners, respectability, refined tastes and acquisitive individualism.  One of the architects of the new morality was Bernard Mandeville, the author of The Fable of the Bees (1724), a biting satire on English society that challenged readers to rethink their basic values. Mandeville argued that the rich are motivated not by greed, but by vanity; that a nation becomes wealthy and powerful not because of the virtue of its citizens, but because of their vices; that a flourishing society depends not on moral principles, but on the gratification of desire; that the prosperity of the Few requires the misery of the Many; and that workers should be kept illiterate and hungry. The Fable of the Bees was highly controversial and stirred up a bitter controversy appropriately called “The Battle of the Bees.” One the book’s critics was the philosopher and economist Adam Smith.  But even Smith had to admit that, in some respects, the book “bordered upon the truth.” Lectures and discussions will focus on “The Great Flip” in Anglo-American values as traditional society gave way to modernity, and as market-values infiltrated politics and society in general. Format: lectures and discussion for 11 weeks.  Required text:  Bernard Mandeville, The Fable of the Bees and Other Writings.  Ed., E. J. Hundert, Hackett Publishing Co., 1997.  (Please buy specifically this edition.  New and used copies available from Amazon Books).