Bernard Mandeville

(1670 - 1733)

Born in Rotterdam in 1670, Bernard Mandeville published the first edition of The Fable of the Bees: Private Vices in 1714, which included an “Enquiry into the Origin of Moral Virtue” and his own “Remarks” on the poem. Arguing that all actions are selfish but that public good comes from them, he drew criticism from clergymen and scholars alike, quickly becoming infamous.