Mandelville accepts the medieval Christian view that those that are public-spirited and live so as to further the public good are virtuous private persons whose public virtue or their civic virtue is exemplary.
He, a neo-Jansenite, draws out the contrast between virtue and commerce. He is a psychological egoist, and urges that England can be great, powerful, rich and militarily mighty, if the selfishness, the egoistic passions and the self-interest of all--but especially those of commercial interests--are encouraged. Criminal vices are to be punished quick and hard. Selfish passions that are non-criminal are to be encouraged and deftly managed by clever politicians and magistrates to make this emerging mercantilist nation powerful, prosperous and impressive, with plenty of enjoyable wealth and luxuries available for the upper class to enjoy, while the poor working class is kept hardworking, uneducated and busy.
Mandeville does not deny that virtue exists or that people can be virtuous, but that, whether guided by self-denial or reason, it is at best effective in rural, poor, small nations without a presence on the world stage.
Virtuous claims and virtuous reputations are just surface reputation, and naked self-interest is what motivates everyone once it source and reality is revealed, and all nonsense and irrelevance is cast aside.
He rejects virtuous claims and virtuous motivators for his adopted English nation. By so situating himself, he promotes that selfish or vicious motives are to be encouraged among the people for the good of the nation, in terms of full employment, and wealth-creation.
I like Ayn Rand do not accept Mandeville's characterization of selfishness or self-interest as vicious in nature. I would describe self-interest is a moral motive of the highest or most virtuous category conceivable.
I retort that alruism is vicious and that egoism is virtue.
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