Uploaded May 2025 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago

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Is pursuing our self-interest good for society? In this new podcast episode of Portraits of Liberty, we explore the provocative work of Bernard Mandeville, who argued that everything –from commerce to civilization itself– emerged from self-interest, vanity and competition, not altruism.

Listen to our Editor for Intellectual History, Paul Meany, analyze Mandeville's work!

libertarianism.org/podcasts/portraits-liberty/how-self-interest-built-societies-bernard-mandeville