The Ethics Research Of The Fable Of The Bees

Bernard Mandeville(1670-1733)was born in a medical family of Rotterdam in the Netherlands and then went to live in the UK,specializing in medicine and philosophy.And his representative work Bee's Fables covers his main ethical ideas.In this book,Mandeville made a detailed explanation about the origin of morality,the nature of society and the thought of “PrivateVices—PublicBenefits” from the perspective of the theory of human nature.His ideas have promoted new development of ethics and have had a profound impact on Western economics,sociology,and philosophy.This thesis is divided into three parts:The first part explains the background and ideological origin of the book Bee's Fables.And the formation of its ethical thoughts could not be separated from the economic,political and cultural conditions of then society in which the author lived.In terms of the social background,since the Middle Ages,the research focus of western philosophy had shifted from theology to human science,increasingly emphasizing the importance of humans.Besides,Mandeville had also been deeplyaffected by social relations and changes of moral ideas after the 18 th century.As for its contents,Bee's Fable was a fable work in the style of poetry and used bees in the honeycomb as metaphors for people in the real life.In Mandeville's opinion,“the honeycomb”had experienced a change from the prosperity of corruption to the poverty of Puritanism.In the early stage,individuals lacked morality and the societywas filled with evil behaviors,but the society still prospered in economy.In later times,everyone began to pay attention to his moral behaviors;however,the society became deserted without any vitality.In Mandeville's view,social prosperity and affluence must be at the expense of people's moral decay.From its ideological origin,Mandeville's ethical thought was not only influenced by Hobbes and Locke,but also greatly enlightened by the ancient Greek philosophers.The second part interprets the main contents of the ethical thought in Bee's Fables.The theory of humanselfishness comes first and the theory of evil human nature is an important theoreticalbasis in Mandeville's entire ethical thought.In his opinion,people's all kinds of passion for pursuing self-interests determinedhuman's evil nature,but he did not make a thorough criticism to this “evil” nature,and even explained the rationality and necessity of itsexistence and revealed the hypocrisy of the theory of human's good nature in the criticism to Shaftesbury.Besides,the theory of moral origin occupies the second place.Mandeville respectivelyanalyzed the origin of morality from the political needs and human defects and argued that morality was created by smart politics and made in personal profit-making activities.It could not only make people useeach other for own needs and let them being easily controlled by others,but also make careeristeasily and securely get more benefits from others and rule a majority of people.In addition,the thesis also discusses about the theory of labor division promoting moral behaviors,and then explores the essence of virtue,arguing that virtue represents an idea of self-restraint.What's more,“Private Vices—Public Benefits” is a core idea of Bee's Fables.Mandeville's interpretation of the self-centeredness of human nature and the selfish nature of morality constituted the prerequisite of that thought and he elaboratedthe gradual progress ofthe society in the essentialinvestigation of the society.Also,he believed that any society could not be formed in all sorts of virtues or the good nature of people.On the contrary,all societies must originate from various needs of people,human defects and desires.And human society rightly became prosperous in the process of meeting personal interests.And then the thsisdiscusses the driving force of social development and elaborates the contents and significance of the thought “Private Vices—Public Benefits”.The third part analyzes the theoretical merits and demerits and its enlightenment of the ethical thoughts in Bee's Fables.And its theoretical contribution is embodied in two aspects.For one thing,it promotes the development of Western utilitarianism.The controversy caused by Mandeville Paradox has more or less forced people into a state ofholding a utilitarian attitude.For example,the early utilitarian firstlyexplained utilitarianism in the process of seeking solutions to Mandeville Paradox.Thus Mandeville Paradox has laid a foundation for the subsequent development of utilitarianism.For another,the ethical thoughts in Bee's Fablesprovide the ethical support to the classical economics.And Mandeville's thought of “Private Vices—Public Benefits” is the direct source of Smith's “Invisible Hand” theory.Besides,he is an important founder of liberal economics(individualism),strongly praised by Hayek.What's more,its theoretical defects are embodied in the limitations of the theory of human selfishness and the one-sidedness of individualistic morality.At last,the author expounds the enlightenment of Mandeville Paradox on the moral construction under the current market economy in our country.