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Exploring the Political Economy and Social Philosophy of F. A. Hayek

Exploring the Political Economy and Social Philosophy of F. A. Hayek

Peter J. Boettke | Jayme Lemke | Virgil Henry Storr

(2018)

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Book Details

Abstract

This volume critically explore and extend Hayek’s Nobel Prize-winning work on knowledge and social interconnectedness from the disciplines of law, economics, philosophy, anthropology, political science, and history. Hayek’s insights about knowledge become even more important once it is recognized that nothing in the social world occurs in isolation. There is no such thing as a distinct economic, political, or social sphere—they are inextricably intertwined.

Given the range of both Hayek’s work and the contributing authors’ perspectives, the range of topics covered in this volume is extraordinarily wide, running the gamut from immigration, to white supremacy, to ancient agricultural practices, to the nature of what it means to be free.
Offers an insightful set of highly readable essays applying and extending Hayek's thought to history, politics, law, political philosophy, and even food anthropology. This edited volume offers a fascinating read with lots of interesting examples to anyone working in the Austrian tradition and beyond.
Diana W. Thomas, Associate Professor of Economics, Creighton University
This diverse and insightful collection represents the very best of contemporary Hayekian scholarship. The breadth of research is astounding and provides a fitting testimony to the multidisciplinary relevance of Hayek's career. Anyone in the social sciences and humanities will find insights and incitement for future work exploring how individuals engage with emergent orders to coordinate their activities.
Anthony J. Evans, ESCP Europe Business School
[The book] is an ambitious project that showcases the work of a group of young scholars who creatively apply Hayek’s thinking about knowledge, law, and spontaneous order to political and social problems in ways that he had never imagined.
Peter J. Boettke is Professor at George Mason University.

Jayme Lemke is a Senior Research Fellow and Associate Director of Academic and Student
Programs at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University and a Senior Fellow in the F.A. Hayek
Program for Advanced Study in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics.

Virgil Storr is Research Associate Professor of Economics and Senior Fellow, F.A. Hayek Program for
Advanced Study in Philosophy, Politics & Economics, George Mason University.

Hayek warned that “the economist who is only an economist is likely to become a nuisance if not a positive danger.” That sentiment animates this excellent collection of essays by emerging scholars applying, analyzing, and refining Hayekian ideas from a wide range of disciplinary perspectives. There is something here for every scholar in social science, history, and political philosophy.
Adam Martin, Political Economy Research Fellow, Free Market Institute, Texas Tech University
Edited by three major contributors to the modern literatures of public choice and Austrian economics, Exploring the Political Economy and Social Philosophy of F. A. Hayek comprises a wide-ranging set of essays applying classical liberal thinking across the social sciences, from immigration to rights claims, presenting ideas that are indispensable in today’s world of closed minds and closing borders.
William F. Shughart II, J. Fish Smith Professor in Public Choice, Utah State University
Friedrich Hayek was one of the most insightful social scientists of the twentieth century. This volume shows the continuing relevance of Hayek’s ideas by using them as a foundation for exploring a variety of topics from a Hayekian perspective. These essays provide readers with an increased appreciation for Hayek’s intellectual contributions and insight into a variety of economic, legal and social institutions.

Randall G. Holcombe, DeVoe Moore Professor of Economics, Florida State University

Table of Contents

Section Title Page Action Price
Cover Cover
Exploring the Political Economy and Social Philosophy of F. A. Hayek i
Exploring the Political Economy and Social Philosophy of F. A. Hayek iii
Copyright page iv
Contents v
Introduction 1
Epistemic Limitations 11
Chapter 1 13
The Disciplinary Role of Market Prices 13
Famines, Knowledge, and Prices 15
Mencius and Markets 16
Mao over Markets 19
Engineering Famine 23
A Hayekian Critique of Maoist China 26
Notes 28
References 32
Chapter 2 35
Justice Theorizing and Local Knowledge 35
Action Guidance, Local Knowledge, and Justice 37
Hayek’s Knowledge Problem 38
Justice Theorists and Local Knowledge 40
The Strength of the Epistemic Limitation 46
Thinking About Justice: A Communal Endeavor 50
Notes 51
References 53
Chapter 3 55
The Silent Role of Emotions in Hayekian Political Economy 55
What Are Emotions? 57
The Pretense of Reason 62
Hayek’s Silent Emotions? 65
Freedom, Emotion, and Political Economy 68
Conclusion 74
Notes 74
References 76
Chapter 4 79
Justificatory Failures and Moral Entrepreneurs 79
Public Reason and Justificatory Failures 81
The JFC’s Fatal Conceit 85
In Search of Justification: The Epistemic Turn 88
Competition and Moral Entrepreneurs 91
Polycentric Public Reason 93
Conclusion 97
References 97
Political and Legal Rights 101
Chapter 5 103
The Case for Opening Borders 103
The Coercive Nature of Discretionary Immigration Controls 104
Discretionary Immigration Controls and the Right of National Self-Determination 115
Conclusion 124
References 124
Chapter 6 127
A Liberal Response to Group Rights 127
The Stakes of Analytic and Moral Individualism 128
The Group Rights Critique of Liberal Individualism 130
Group Rights 133
Evaluating Group Rights 135
Problems of Groups as Rights Bearers 136
Problems of Constitutive Attachments Imposing Duties on Those Encumbered by Them 139
Problems of Constitutive Attachments Modifying the Moral Obligations of Those Not Personally Encumbered by Them 142
Conclusion 145
Notes 146
References 147
Chapter 7 151
The Social Basis of Ultimate Legal Rules 151
Hart’s Model of the Foundations of Law 152
What Can Hartian General Jurisprudence Learn from Hayek? 154
Hayek and the Positive Originalism Debate 162
Conclusions 165
Notes 166
References 168
Chapter 8 171
F. A. Hayek and the Administrative State 171
Separation of Powers and Administration Under the Rule of Law 172
Unlimited Democracy and the Expansion of the Administrative Sphere 181
Democratic Control of Complex Administration 183
Revisiting the Politics-Administration \nDichotomy 187
Conclusion 188
Notes 188
References 188
Spontaneous Order 193
Chapter 9 195
Explaining Culture in Hayek’s Cultural Evolution 195
Hayek, Evolution, and Complexity 196
Cultural Evolution per Hayek 197
The Evolutionary Psychology Approach to Studying Culture 203
Explaining the Extended Order 205
Hayek’s Challenge and Response 208
Conclusion 211
References 212
Chapter 10 215
A Hayekian Perspective on the Domestication of Maize 215
Domestication Theories 216
A Hayekian Theory of Domestication 219
Maize 221
Competitive Systems 223
Conclusions 225
Appendix 227
Note 227
References 228
Chapter 11 233
Bad Spontaneous Orders 233
Spontaneous Orders, Good and Bad 235
Trust 238
White Supremacy as Spontaneous Order 241
Whiteness and Ignorance 244
Conclusion 248
Notes 251
References 255
Index 259
About the Contributors 275