Honour and Interest: Mandeville on Chastity as an Artificial Virtue

Abstract

Bernard Mandeville began his philosophical anatomy of the relativity of human values with women, and throughout his writings he maintained a keen interest in the status and capabilities of women and the double standard imposed on women and men in many areas of life, making it an exemplary perspective on human sociability. The essay traces the development of Mandeville's arguments about women in his works and examines the role played by his reflection on chastity in the context of his account of the artificial virtues.