Power, Pleasure, And Profit by David Wootton
Insatiable Appetites from Machiavelli to Madison
A history of ideas that traces how, from the Renaissance to the Enlightenment, thinkers recast human motives around self-interest, as the pursuit of power, pleasure, and profit displaced classical virtue. Through figures like Machiavelli, Hobbes, Mandeville, Hume, Smith, Bentham, and Madison, it charts the rise of modern political economy and liberal institutions built on unintended consequences and the invisible hand. It argues that this shift normalized self-love as a public good while exposing enduring tensions over happiness, legitimacy, and inequality.
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- Published
- 2018
- Nationality
- British
- Length
- Moderate
- Pages
- 350-400
- Original Language
- English
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