Man-Devil

The Mind and Times of Bernard Mandeville, the Wickedest Man in Europe

John J. Callanan

$59.99

Hardback

Forthcoming
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English

Princeton University Press
01 May 2025

Biography: historical, political & military; European history; Modern history to 20th century: c 1700 to c 1900; Social & political philosophy

A lively and provocative account of Bernard Mandeville and the work that scandalised 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 analyse and satirise 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 behaviour

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.

By: John J. Callanan
Imprint: Princeton University Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 235mm, Width: 155mm,
ISBN: 9780691165448
ISBN 10: 0691165440
Pages: 328
Publication Date: 01 May 2025
Audience: Professional and scholarly , College/higher education , Undergraduate , Further / Higher Education
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

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.

Reviews for Man-Devil: The Mind and Times of Bernard Mandeville, the Wickedest Man in Europe

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