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Three books in the history of modern philosophy, Machiavelli’s The Prince (1513), Hobbes’ Leviathan (1651) and Mandeville’s Fable of the Bees (1714-29), ignited lively discussions and gained for their authors an infamous reputation. The three philosophers lived and worked in different contexts, but Niccolò Machiavelli, Thomas Hobbes and Bernard Mandeville all hold a similar, unprejudiced “scientific” approach to the issue of man’s sociability. In general terms, they share a common view regarding the relevance of self-interested motivation in human nature. Their works were labeled immoral, pernicious, offensive to the dignity of mankind, but none of their successors could avoid considering their philosophical claims. This course presents these three books and the impact they had on the history of Western thought. Students engage in a close reading of The Prince and selections from Leviathan and The Fable of the Bees, as well as the major commentaries and responses to these publications; an analysis of the context in which they were written, and an examination of the main issues addressed in the debates which Machiavelli, Hobbes and Mandeville provoked.
