Bernard Mandeville: The Fable of the Bees – vol. 1-2

The Fable of the Bees begins with a poem and continues with a number of essays and dialogues. It is all tied together by the startling and original idea that “private vices” (self-interest) lead to “public benefits” (the development and operation of society).

From that simple beginning, Mandeville saw that orderly social structures (such as law, language, the market, and even the growth of knowledge) were a spontaneous growth developing out of individual human actions.