Francis Mandeville Research Paper

Mandeville has two criticisms of the politics of compassion. First, he argues that the standard for being virtuous is too high for us to actually be virtuous. For Mandeville an act is virtuous if and only if it done altruistically . On the other hand that it in any way benefits us, and thus not altruistic, is an act motivated by vice as it is then selfish. He holds that man was originally an animal and as a result of this man cared only about satisfying his desire for pleasures. As such, man was a being of pure vice. He holds that the idea of virtue would be created later on by the politicians who desired to curb man’s behavior and as a result make man easier to control. Humans agreed to follow this new morality since it praised human nature, …show more content…
According to Mandeville, the fact that we act on vice, as opposed to virtue, means that we have access to certain public goods which in turn allow society to thrive . Mandeville identifies three public benefits of vice. First, the institution of etiquette is dependent upon desires to be praised and not shamed . These are self-serving acts, and thus etiquette is acted on through vice. Etiquette tells us how to act and as such allows for order for a society. Thus, vice is needed to allow for order. Second, the modern economy is driven by vice. The economy requires of us to be greed so as to allow for excessive purchasing, to destroy property so that new pieces of property can be created and purchased, and finally to act embrace our more basic desires for pleasure. Without these three things, certain occupations and industries would not be needed, which would cause mass unemployment. This in turn would cause the economy to falter. Thirdly, proper armies require the vices of love and honor to create ideal soldiers. As such, without vice, Mandeville holds that we would not be able to obtain these public benefits, and modern society would in turn