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‘The wickedest man in Europe’ was just an intellectual provocateur

Bernard Mandeville certainly revelled in mischief-making; but his one simple idea – that human beings are animals – seems unremarkable today

Bryan Appleyard
Bernard Mandeville, c.1711.  Alamy
EXPLORE THE ISSUE 04 January 2025
issue 04 January 2025
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  • Man-Devil: The Mind and Times of Bernard Mandeville, the Wickedest Man in Europe

    John Callanan

    Princeton University Press, pp. 328, £30

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