This study explores the function of Bernard Mandeville’s “self-liking” and “self-love,” thereby elucidating their roles and linkages in his ethical thought. To date, Mandeville’s ethical thought has been criticized, primarily by claiming that he views people as being merely selfish. According to this view, people become virtuous with the skillful management of politicians. Recently, Christian Maurer has reinterpreted the “selfish” view in consideration of the possibility that people can spontaneously become virtuous through “self-liking.” His interpretation, however, does not fully elaborate on the function of other passions existing in human nature (e.g., self-love, pride, fear, shame). Hence, this study attempts to clarify how people become virtuous through self-liking and self-love.
The first section is devoted to outlining existing research concerning self-liking and self-love, posing a research question inquiring how self-liking and selflove work (respectively) and how they are connected to the process of people becoming virtuous. Section 2 presents the basic workings of these two passions. The investigation clarifies that self-liking ─ which is dubbed as “pride” when it is excessive ─ leads people to evaluate themselves highly, display the value they put on themselves to others, and to acquire others’ good opinion of themselves. Moreover, self-love makes people preserve themselves and expedites the discovery of the causes of any mischief. In addition, the in-depth consideration of the interpretation of self-liking indicates that it is not an acquired passion but an innate one, unlike prior research which links the concept to that of Rousseau’s “amour-propre.” Section 3 reveals the role, and connection, of self-liking and self-love in Mandeville’s ethical thought. The study concludes that self-love and fear ─ which reinforces the workings of self-love ─ generate apprehension for self-liking. This apprehension produces shame, which is grounded on reflections of their self-evaluation. Ultimately, this reflection makes self-liking moderate, so that moderated self-liking evokes the love of praise. As such, the study clarifies on the idea that people can become virtuous with the help of self-liking and self-love.