In this Western Literature course thus far, I have read some interesting works. Some written well, others written to a point of not being to able to understand them. Shakespere is a classic example of dense writing, that doesn’t necessarily lock in the reader. Bernard Mandeville is not of those writers. Bernard, being a writer, philosopher, political activist and more, was born on 1670 and live till 1733. he gained his popularity through one of his most popular works, The Fable of the Bees. It is work that consists of smaller writing including a satirical poem about life and society.
The poem is called The grumbling Hive, gave an interesting insight into society and it’s development. It discusses social classes and their deep innerworkings. As some have pointed out, this deeply challenged the Scottish Enlightenment period, a time of great thinking. Mandeville discusses a small hive of bees. A working community. He describes that the bees, one day, decide to become honest and virtuous. The community and it’s economy ten collapses in onto itself.
This was a reflection of society, Mandeville was making a point that, people in society lie cheat and steal for personal gain. He argues this is how a economy succeeds. He argues that modern society has been so successful because of the selfishness that lives within. The economy flourishes off of competition, greed, and envy. He argued that, governments, laws and regulations don’t control a society, rather, peoples actions of materialism, fear, anger and envy do.
This idea became deeply rooted into the ideas of the Scottish Enlightment, something Darwin, himself, used for inspiration. What could be concluded is that Darwin, used the ideas of Mandeville to create the idea of evolution and Darwinism. The idea that the weak, dies and the strong live. Not to far off from the ideas Mandeville at all. Darwin also argued that animals and living things adapt and evolve to their specific circumstance, fighting, surviving, and thriving.
In conclusion, Mandeville and Darwin’s ideas are closely related, Both talk about the break neck fast paced style of living and society. Both talk about the competitiveness of society, and how selfishness fuels a strong functioning world. It is not hard to draw the conclusion that Mandeville was the inspiration for Darwin, and after reading the Grumbling Hive, it’s easy to see why.
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