THE UNEVENTFUL RECEPTION OF MANDEVILLE’S IDEAS IN THE EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY DUTCH REPUBLIC, OR THE MYSTERIOUS CASE OF THE MISSING OUTRAGE

Abstract

The heated debates that Bernard Mandeville’s work inspired in Britain, France, and Germany are well-documented. No such account is available for the public reception of his ideas in his country of birth, the Dutch Republic. This paper seeks to fill that void. Remarkably, his ideas did not cause much of a stir. Consequently, the paper explains the divergent pattern of response from the Dutch. It is argued that his ideas were either reverting to disputes that had already been settled or were out of touch with the general climate of opinion in the Netherlands.