SOURCE: Schneider, Louis. “Bernard Mandeville: Observations in Lieu of a Biography.” In Paradox and Society: The Work of Bernard Mandeville. New Brunswick, N.J.: Transaction Books, 1987, pp. 29-66.

In the following essay, Schneider, provides an outline of Mandeville's life, thought, and literary activity.

Material for a life of Mandeville is scant and a biography of him of any considerable scale is not feasible. One may make certain inferences about his character or personal traits from his work. Although this is a somewhat precarious enterprise, it is not entirely unrewarding. The effort to discover something of his character also will suggest intellectual features that help toward the construction of a portrait of the man and thinker.

Kaye has provided a brief sketch of Mandeville's life.¹ From this it appears that Mandeville was baptized in Rotterdam on the 20th of November, 1670. He attended the Erasmian School in Rotterdam and subsequently...