Abstract

The paper explores the development of the theory of esteem in Mandeville’s works. In particular, it focuses on the sources and the transformations of his lexicon of passions. My aim is to show that the development of Mandeville’s conceptual reflection goes hand in hand with the evolution of his lexical tools, and that he gradually abandons the language of the French Jansenists. Finally, I put forward the hypothesis that Mandeville found in the English translation of «Praise of Folly» by Erasmus of Rotterdam the term with which he defines the desire for esteem. Mandeville is, therefore, a pivotal author in the process of both secularization of the language, and theories of esteem in Eighteenth-century Britain.