Primary Sources in Political Thought S.
1 total work
This work collects the 32 papers which Bernard Mandeville (1670-1733), author of "The Fable of the Bees" (1st ed., 1714), contributed to "The Female Tatler" (1709-10), one of the many imitators of Richard Steele's "Tatler". In these papers, Mandeville's protagonists, the sisters Lucinda and Artesia, discuss and debate the origin and basis of human society and its progress, honour and courage, the value of a life devoted to making money, and most importantly, the position and the virtues of women. The essays are fully annotated, providing significant information about Mandeville's sources and identifying historical and literary references. The volume also includes a substantive introduction by Maurice Goldsmith, an expert on Mandeville, explaining the relation of the papers to the social thought of the period and the development of Mandeville's views. "The Female Tatler" essays systematically address themes further developed in "The Fable of the Bees", a work very widely read in the 18th century and which was a stimulus to the theories of (among others) David Hume and Adam Smith.
The collection should be of interest to scholars of 18th-century literature, history, political and economic thought, women's studies and philosophy.
The collection should be of interest to scholars of 18th-century literature, history, political and economic thought, women's studies and philosophy.