Man-Devil - by John J Callanan (Hardcover)

About the Book

"In 1714, doctor, philosopher, and writer Bernard Mandeville published The Fable of the Bees, a humorous tale in which a prosperous hive full of greedy and licentious bees trade their vices for virtues and immediately fall into economic and societal collapse. Outrage among the reading public followed; philosophers took up their pens to refute what they saw as the fable's central assertion. How could it be that an immoral community thrived but the introduction of morality caused it to crash and burn? ... John Callanan examines Mandeville and his famous fable, showing how its contentious claim--that vice was essential to the economic flourishing of any society--formed part of Mandeville's overall theory of human nature. Mandeville, Callanan argues, was perfectly suited to analyze and satirize the emerging phenomenon of modern society--and reveal the gap between its self-image and its reality. Callanan shows that Mandeville's thinking was informed by his medical training and his innovative approach to the treatment of illness with both physiological and psychological components. Through incisive and controversial analyses of sexual mores, gender inequality, economic structures, and political ideology, Mandeville sought to provide a naturalistic account of human behavior--one that put humans in close continuity with animals. Aware that his fellow human beings might find this offensive, he cloaked his theories in fables, poems, anecdotes, and humorous stories. Mandeville mastered irony precisely for the purpose of making us aware of uncomfortable aspects of our deepest natures--aspects that we still struggle to acknowledge today"--Provided by publisher.

Book Synopsis

A lively and provocative account of Bernard Mandeville and the work that scandalized and appalled his contemporaries--and made him one of the most influential thinkers of the eighteenth century

In 1714, doctor, philosopher and writer Bernard Mandeville published The Fable of the Bees, a humorous tale in which a prosperous hive full of greedy and licentious bees trade their vices for virtues and immediately fall into economic and societal collapse. Outrage among the reading public followed; philosophers took up their pens to refute what they saw as the fable's central assertion. How could it be that an immoral community thrived but the introduction of morality caused it to crash and burn? In Man-Devil, John Callanan examines Mandeville and his famous fable, showing how its contentious claim--that vice was essential to the economic flourishing of any society--formed part of Mandeville's overall theory of human nature. Mandeville, Callanan argues, was perfectly suited to analyze and satirize the emerging phenomenon of modern society--and reveal the gap between its self-image and its reality.

Callanan shows that Mandeville's thinking was informed by his medical training and his innovative approach to the treatment of illness with both physiological and psychological components. Through incisive and controversial analyses of sexual mores, gender inequality, economic structures, and political ideology, Mandeville sought to provide a naturalistic account of human behavior--one that put humans in close continuity with animals. Aware that his fellow human beings might find this offensive, he cloaked his theories in fables, poems, anecdotes, and humorous stories. Mandeville mastered irony precisely for the purpose of making us aware of uncomfortable aspects of our deepest natures--aspects that we still struggle to acknowledge today.

Review Quotes

"The ambition of Callanan's book is to take Mandeville seriously as a thinker. Notwithstanding all his satire and jokes, the book claims that Mandeville put forward a unified worldview, one that we ignore at our peril. . . . Man-Devil does an excellent job of situating Mandeville in his cultural milieu."---Max Skjönsberg, Law & Liberty

"A book-length exploration of the man's 'life and mind' has the potential to shed useful light on his ideas and their place in intellectual history, and Callanan's book delivers."---Robert Rich, Montreal Review

"Callanan, a philosopher at King's College, London, has produced an engaging, expansive and effortlessly erudite study of a man who today too few people know. Man-Devil is a fascinating and welcome corrective, not least because Bernard Mandeville was amongst the first to argue that we don't really know ourselves."---Peter West, The Critic

"[A] superb book."---Joseph Hone, History Today

"John Callanan's Man-Devil: The Mind and Times of Bernard Mandeville, the Wickedest Man in Europe (Princeton University Press) is by far the best discussion we have of this paradoxical, and immensely influential thinker, and everyone interested in the history of moral, social, or economic theorising should read it."---David Wootton, Engelsberg Ideas

"Entertaining. . . .[Callanan] has convinced me that exposing Mandeville and his writings to a new generation of readers is indeed worthwhile."---Howard Davies, Literary Review

About the Author

John Callanan is reader in the history of philosophy, Department of Philosophy, at King's College London. He is the author of Kant's Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals and the coeditor of Kant and Animals.