Ladies and Gentlemen,
On behalf of the Foundation Bernard Mandeville and the Erasmus University - as the host of this ceremony: welcome at the 13th Mandeville Lecture.
Bernard Mandeville was a writer of satires famous in the early 18th century. Born and bred in Rotterdam, he received his degree of Doctor of Medicine at Leiden – and next settled in London. Best-known is The Fable of the Bees: or, Private Vices, Publick Benefits.
Core of Mandeville’s thinking: humans by nature are greedy and selfish. These vices, however, will lead to great deeds - deeds bringing social progress. Erasmus University Rotterdam used this ironic paradox as a rationale to institute the Mandeville Lecture series.
Conferring a doctorate honoris causa is one of the university’s means to express great appreciation. It underlines the academic function of the university. The honorary doctorate therefore is only awarded for great scientific merit.
Nevertheless, the university will also honour persons on the ground of social merit. The Bernard Mandeville Foundation was founded to this end in 1988 – dedicated to honour individuals for work of great social merit in the Netherlands or abroad.
Twelve eminent persons have preceded today’s Mandeville-lecturer. I will touch upon three to bring out differences in tackling the core mission of The Fable of the Bees’. Note that Mandeville’s bees’ state thrives through selfishness, ambition and vanity, and collapses when vice and unselfishness get the upper hand.
Dr. Max van der Stoel in 1993 said: “I recognise that appealing to self-interest has always driven growth of material prosperity. Yet naked self-interest as only guiding principle in interstate relations will almost always lead to disaster – to a permanent conflict situation. This is why, different from Mandeville’s teaching, each state or commonwealth must give priority to safeguarding peace and safety and respect for human rights.”
Dr. Wim Duisenberg in 1998 impressively described his personal views – and doubts too – on the planned introduction of the Euro. The then president of the Netherlands Central Bank said: “Although the introduction of the Euro may not be financially beneficial in full to each and every Dutch citizen, and thus violates the Mandeville principle of self-interest, I see it as integral to a shift from a German Europe to a Europe that permanently incorporates Germany, so that for the first time since long future generations in Western Europe can live in safety and without local wars.”
Two years ago Mr. Frits Bolkestein delivered the Mandeville-lecture, opposing the many critics of Mandeville’s work: “Only few observers of society have been detested liked Bernard Mandeville for his sceptical view. Current Dutch politics, however, justifies much more interest in his work.”
Mr. Bolkestein warned against the ‘pitifulness complex’ in Dutch politics, which asserts that man is good and restricted in his aspirations by social circumstances. “Some people may be good indeed, but others are bad, and most are weak and short-sighted. Our welfare state lacks in stimulating people to assert themselves: ‘overprotection makes weak’. Insufficient stimulation to reach achievements will endanger prosperity in the long run. Good intentions on a micro level may have adverse consequences on a macro level”, said Mr. Bolkestein in Mandeville’s vein.
In a previous publication Mr. Bolkestein had modestly named his Mandeville-derived philosophy: ‘Frits’ axiom’.
Today I am honoured to introduce Mrs. Lilian Gonçalves-Ho Kang You as Mandeville-lecturer 2007. Born in Paramaribo, Mrs. Gonçalves read law at Leiden University. Back in Suriname she was legal advisor to the Cabinet of the Prime Minister, and next an advocate in a law firm run together with her husband Mr. Gonçalves. After the 1980 coup her brother was murdered; her husband was a victim of the ‘December murders’, whereupon Mrs. Gonçalves fled to the Netherlands.
For years she worked in two renowned lawyer’s offices in Amsterdam; next as an executive in OPTA, the Independent Post and Telecommunication Authority. In 1994 she was appointed Vice-Chair of the Dutch Equal Treatment Commission.
Nevertheless, it is for her additional functions that the jury of the Mandeville Foundation invited Mrs. Gonçalves for this lecture. Mrs. Gonçalves is or was member or Chair of the NPS program board, Foundation ‘Nieuwe Kerk’, ‘Concertgebouw’, and ‘Prins Claus Fonds’.
Most important, however, are her human rights activities. She chaired the Foundation Legal Cooperation Netherlands-Suriname, the National Bureau for the Fight against Racism, Amnesty International Netherlands branch, and others.
Since September 2006 she is Chair of the International Executive Committee of Amnesty International in London. Mrs. Gonçalves shows great appreciation of justice, coupled with a fundamental contribution to create international solidarity and power for a humane society. The title of her lecture is Grenzeloze waardigheid/On Human Dignity.
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