Berkeley and Mandeville

Abstract

Abstract This chapter analyzes the intellectual differences between Berkeley and Mandeville. Berkeley’s lifelong antagonism toward skeptics and free-thinkers culminated in his reaction to Mandeville’s Fable of the Bees in the second dialogue of Alciphron. The analysis covers Mandeville’s arguments in the Fable, Berkeley’s reasons for opposing it, and also Mandeville’s later response to Berkeley in Letter to Dion. Mandeville and Berkeley were writing at the time when the relevance of trade changed the landscape of political philosophy. They both understood the importance of commerce, although their perspectives clashed on the questions of virtue and luxury. An interesting feature of the intellectual antagonism between them is the practical component, which is addressed in a discussion on Berkeley’s ideas of education and his attempt to establish a college of theology in the New World. An analysis of Mandeville’s possible influence on the development of Berkeley’s philosophy concludes the chapter.