Treating the Passions: A Critical Examination of Mauro Simonazzi's Interpretation of Self-liking and Hypochondria in the Works of Bernard Mandeville

• Thesis title in Czech: Léčba vášní: Kritické přezkoumání M. Simonazziho interpretace sebe-zalíbení a hypochondrie v dílech Bernarda Mandevilla
• Thesis title in English: Treating the Passions: A Critical Examination of Mauro Simonazzi's Interpretation of Self-liking and Hypochondria in the Works of Bernard Mandeville
• Key words: Mandeville, Self-liking, Hypochondria, Mental Health, Therapy, British Philosophy, History of Medicine, Early Modern Period
• English key words: Mandeville, Sebe-zalíbení, Hypochondrie, Duševní zdraví, Terapie, Britská filosofie, Dějiny lékařství, Raný novověk
• Academic year of topic announcement: 2023/2024
• Thesis type: Bachelor's thesis
• Thesis language: angličtina
• Department: Programme SHV - Philosophical Module (24-FM)
• Supervisor: PhDr. Tomáš Kunca, Ph.D.
• Author: hidden - assigned and confirmed by the Study Dept.
• Date of registration: 22.11.2023
• Date of assignment: 22.11.2023
• Confirmed by Study dept. on: 23.11.2023
• Date of electronic submission: 29.04.2024
• Date of proceeded defence: 13.06.2024
• Course: Thesis Defence (YBOS001)
• Opponents: doc. Mgr. Aleš Novák, Ph.D.

References

PRIMÁRNÍ LITERATURA:
B. MANDEVILLE, An Enquiry into an Origin of Honour; and the Usefulness of Christianity in War. London, 1732.
B. MANDEVILLE, A Treatise of Hypochondriack and Hysterick Diseases (1730), International Archives of the History of Ideas Archives internationales d'histoire des idées, ed by S. Kleiman-Lafon. Springer International Publishing AG, 2017.
B. MANDEVILLE, The Fable of the Bees: or Private Vices, Publick Benefits. The Second Volume, ed by
F. B. Kaye. Oxford: Claredon Press, 1924.
J. HILL, Hypochondriasis: A Practical Treatise. Introduction by G.S. Rousseau. Los Angeles: William Andrews Clark Memorial Library, University of California, 1969.
SEKUNDÁRNÍ LITERATURA:
A. BRANCHI, Pride, Manners and Morals: Bernard Mandeville’s Anatomy of Honour. Brill, 2022.
B. P. TURNER, Mandeville Against Luxury. Political Theory, vol. 44, no. 1, 2016, JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/24571679, s. 26 – 52.
C. A. S. CARVALHO, Mandeville and the Therapeutics of Melancholic Passions in E. B. PIRES and J. BRAGA (eds), Bernard de Mandeville's Tropology of Paradoxes: Morals, Politics, Economics, and Therapy. Springer International Publishing, 2015.
H. J. COOK, Treating of bodies medical and political: Dr. Mandeville’s materialism. Erasmus Journal for Philosophy and Economics, 9(1), 2016. https://doi.org/10.23941/ejpe.v9i1.210, s. 1 – 31.
M. SIMONAZZI, Bernard Mandeville on Hypochondria and Self-liking. Erasmus Journal for Philosophy and Economics 9 (1), 2016. https://doi.org/10.23941/ejpe.v9i1.213. s. 62 – 81.
M. SIMONAZZI, Mandeville on Happiness Copia. 1650-1850: Ideas, Aesthetics, and Inquiries in the Early Modern Era, edited by K.L. Cope, Bucknell University Press, 2023, s. 265-283.
M. TOLONEN, Self-love and self-liking in the moral and political philosophy of Bernard Mandeville and David Hume. Dizertační práce. University of Helsinki, 2010.
R. A. COLLINS, Private Vices, Public Benefits; Dr Mandeville and the Body Politic. Dizertační práce. Oxford University, 1988.
R. DOUGLAS, Mandeville’s Fable: Pride, Hypocrisy and Sociability. Princeton University Press, 2023.
S. KLEIMAN-LAFON, Introduction in A Treatise of Hypochondriack and Hysterick Diseases (1730), International Archives of the History of Ideas Archives internationales d'histoire des idées, ed by S. Kleiman-Lafon. Springer International Publishing AG, 2017.
S. KLEIMAN-LAFON, The Healing Power of Words: Medicine as Literature in Bernard Mandeville’s Treatise of the Hypochondriack and Hysterick Diseases. Medicine and Narration in the XVIIIth Century. Oxford, SVEC, 2013, s. 161-181.

Preliminary scope of work

Účelem této práce je představení konceptu sebe-zalíbení (self-liking) v kontextu teorie sociability holandsko-britského filosofa a lékaře Bernarda Mandevilla, popsané v jeho dílech Fable of the Bees a Enquiry into the Origins of Honour, a následná interpretace role, jež tato vášeň hraje v hypochondrii – komplexním onemocnění duše a těla popsaném v autorově medicínském spisu Treatise of Hypochondriac and Hyteric Diseases. Zdá se, že odchýlení od běžného fungování sociálního mechanismu spojené s patologickým projevem sebe-zalíbení může významným způsobem přispět ke vzniku hypochondrie, avšak zároveň v sobě tato vášeň skrývá i klíč k léčbě tohoto onemocnění. Využití Mandevillových filosofických konceptů k výkladu hypochondrie umožní hlubší porozumění nemoci
a zároveň poskytne širší kontext pro autorovou teorii fungování sociálních vztahů. Vzhledem k tomu, že pojetí hypochondrie v 18. století sdílí mnohé znaky s některými současnými psychickými obtížemi, má tento výklad i potenciálně důležité implikace pro dnešní dobu.

Preliminary scope of work in English

This thesis aims to present the concept of self-liking, as posited by the Dutch-British philosopher and physician Bernard Mandeville, within the framework of his theory of sociability proposed in two of his works: “Fable of the Bees” and “Enquiry Into the Origins of Honour” and subsequently explore the role of this passion in hypochondria – a multifaceted disease characterised by both mental and physical symptoms introduced in his medical treatise titled “Treatise of Hypochondriac and Hysteric Diseases”. It would seem that the deviation from normal functioning of the social mechanism linked with a pathological manifestation of self-liking can substantially contribute to the onset of hypochondria, yet at the same time, the passion also appears to play a key part in the treatment of the malady. Using Mandeville’s philosophical concepts in the analysis of hypochondria will enable
a deeper insight into the disease as well as offer a broader context for understanding Mandeville’s theory of sociability. Furthermore, the fact that the 18th century conceptualization of hypochondria shares a great deal of similarities with some contemporary mental health issues means that this interpretation also has the virtue of having potentially significant implications for the modern era.