The Fable of the Bees

'The Fable of The Bees' is a book by Bernard Mandeville. It consists of'The Grumbling Hive'; and an essay, 'An Enquiry into the Origin of Moral Virtue'. In 'The Grumbling Hive', the author describes a bee community that thrives until the bees decide to live by honesty and virtue. As they abandon their desire for personal gain, the economy of their hive collapses, and they go on to live simple, 'virtuous' lives in a hollow tree. Mandeville implied that people were hypocrites for espousing rigorous ideas about virtue and vice while they failed to act according to those beliefs in their private lives. The Fable influenced ideas about the division of labour and the free market (laissez-faire), and the philosophy of utilitarianism was advanced as Mandeville's critics, in defending their views of virtue, also altered them. His work influenced Scottish Enlightenment thinkers such as Francis Hutcheson, David Hume and Adam Smith.

Bernard Mandeville (1670-1733), was an Anglo-Dutch philosopher, political economist and satirist, best known for his book 'The Fable of the Bees'. Born in Rotterdam, Netherlands, he lived most of his life in England and used English for most of his published works. Mandeville's main philosophical thesis is that the actions of men cannot be divided into lower and higher. The higher life of man is a mere fiction introduced by philosophers and rulers to simplify government and the relations of society. In Mandeville's opinion, virtue is actually detrimental to the state in its commercial and intellectual progress, while it is the vices, on the other hand, which alone, by means of inventions and the circulation of capital (economics) in connection with luxurious living, stimulate society into action and progress.