Hayek, Co-ordination and Evolution: His Legacy in Philosophy, Politics, Economics and the History of Ideas

401 Pages·1993·2.204 MB·English

by  Birner, Jack

HAYEK, CO-ORDINATION AND
EVOLUTION
‘Many of the institutions on which human achievements rest have arisen and
are functioning without a designing and directing mind . . . the spontaneous
collaboration of free men often creates things which are greater than their
individual minds can ever fully comprehend’.
(From the Preface to Individualism and Economic Order)
Recent years have witnessed a remarkable revival in Hayek’s reputation as an econo-
mist, a political philosopher, and an intellectual historian. Hayek, Co-ordination and
Evolution shows why this revival has taken place by demonstrating the continuing
relevance and vitality of Hayek’s ideas. A group of internationally known scholars
critically assess his contribution to economics, political philosophy, legal theory,
philosophy of science, cognitive psychology and the history of ideas.
Dealing with the development of Hayek’s work chronologically, it begins with
Hayek’s economics, which is analytically the most rigorous of his career. The exten-
sion of Hayek’s ideas into social and political philosophy produced the works for
which he is most widely known, The Road to Serfdom and The Constitution of Liberty.
However, this period is also notable for his work in cognitive psychology, legal
philosophy and the philosophy of science. It was here that the evolutionary nature
of his later work first became apparent.
Despite this apparently diverse subject matter the book reveals a fundamental
unity in Hayek’s thought. Its central and recurrent theme is the interrelated concern
with the role of knowledge in society, the notion of spontaneous order and the
problem of complexity.
Jack Birner is Associate Professor in the Department of Economics at the University
of Maastricht. He teaches economics, the history of economics and philosophy of
science. He has specialized in business cycle theory, the theory of economic policy
and the theory of social amplifiers. Rudy van Zijp is a post-doctoral researcher in
the Department of Economics and Econometrics at the Free University Amsterdam.
His research interests include rational choice theory, business cycle theory and the
theory of social evolution.

HAYEK, CO-ORDINATION
AND EVOLUTION
His legacy in philosophy, politics,
economics and the history of ideas
Edited by
Jack Birner and Rudy van Zijp
London and New York
First published in 1994
by Routledge
11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2001.
© 1994 Jack Birner and Rudy van Zijp
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form
or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including
photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without
permission in writing from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Hayek, co-ordination and evolution: his legacy in philosophy, politics, economics and the history
of ideas / [edited by] Jack Birner and Rudy van Zijp.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-415-09397-X (Print Edition)
1. Hayek, Friedrich A. von (Friedrich August), 1899–
I. Birner, Jack, 1951– . II. Zijp, Rudy van, 1961–
HB101.H39H386 1993
330.1–dc20 93-10753
CIP
ISBN 0–415–09397–X (Print Edition)
ISBN 0-203-00424-8 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN 0-203-15340-5 (Glassbook Format)
CONTENTS
List of contributors viii
Preface x
INTRODUCTION: HAYEK’S GRAND
RESEARCH PROGRAMME 1
Jack Birner
Part I Theory and practice of economic co-ordination
1 EQUILIBRIUM, EXPECTATIONS AND
KNOWLEDGE 25
Meghnad Desai
2 IS HAYEK’S THEORY OF BUSINESS CYCLES
AN AUSTRIAN THEORY? 51
Peter Rosner
3 MATHEMATICAL FORMALIZATION AND THE
DOMAIN OF ECONOMICS: THE CASE OF
HAYEK AND NEW CLASSICAL ECONOMICS 67
Rudy van Zijp and Hans Visser
4 THE RELEVANCE OF HAYEK FOR
MAINSTREAM ECONOMICS 94
Harry Garretsen
5 HAYEKIAN TRIANGLES AND BEYOND 109
Roger W. Garrison
6 AN EVOLUTIONARY APPROACH TO
BANKING AND MONEY 126
Gerald P. O’Driscoll, Jr
CONTENTS
Part II Incentives and the stability of spontaneous order
7 THE ROAD TO FREEDOM: HAYEK’S SOCIAL
AND ECONOMIC PHILOSOPHY 141
Norman P. Barry
8 HAYEK ON SOCIAL JUSTICE: A CRITIQUE 164
Raymond Plant
9 THE THEORY OF SOCIETAL EVOLUTION:
HAYEK’S UNFINISHED LEGACY 178
Ulrich Witt
10 HAYEK AND THE CASE FOR MARKETS 190
Jeremy Shearmur
11 HAYEK’S CRITIQUE OF SOCIALISM 207
Willem Keizer
12 HAYEK’S SPONTANEOUS ORDER:
THE ‘CORRECT’ VERSUS THE
‘CORRIGIBLE’ SOCIETY 232
Marina Bianchi
Part III Law and social order
13 HAYEK ON THE RULE OF LAW 255
Inez Kotterman-van de Vosse
14 HAYEK AND NATURAL LAW:
THE HUMEAN CONNECTION 269
Frank van Dun
15 HAYEK’S KANTIAN HERITAGE
AND NATURAL LAW 287
Nikolas H.M. Roos
Part IV Mind, knowledge and science
16 THE PLACE OF HAYEK’S THEORY OF MIND
AND PERCEPTION IN THE HISTORY OF
PHILOSOPHY AND PSYCHOLOGY 311
Robert P. de Vries
vi
CONTENTS
17 IN PURSUIT OF RATIONALITY: A NOTE
ON HAYEK’S THE COUNTER-REVOLUTION
OF SCIENCE 323
Karl Milford
Part V Ideas of the past
18 HAYEK AS AN INTELLECTUAL HISTORIAN 343
D.P. O’Brien
Name Index 375
Subject Index 380
vii
CONTRIBUTORS
Norman P. Barry, University of Buckingham.
Marina Bianchi, Dipartimento di Economia Pubblica, University of Rome “La
Sapienza”.
Jack Birner, Department of Economics, University of Limburg.
Meghnad Desai, Department of Economics, London School of Economics.
Frank van Dun, Faculty of Law, University of Limburg.
Harry Garretsen, Department of Economics, University of Groningen.
Roger W. Garrison, Department of Economics, Auburn University.
Willem Keizer, Department of Economics and Econometrics, Free University
Amsterdam.
Inez Kotterman-van de Vosse, Department of Law, University of Leiden.
Karl Milford, Institut für Wirtschaftswissenschaften, University of Vienna.
D.P. O’Brien, Department of Economics, University of Durham.
Gerald P. O’Driscoll Jr, Research Department, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.
Raymond Plant, Department of Politics, University of Southampton.
Nikolas H.M. Roos, Faculty of Law, University of Limburg.
Peter Rosner, Institut für Wirtschaftswissenschaften, University of Vienna.
CONTRIBUTORS
Jeremy Shearmur, Department of Political Science, Australian National University
Hans Visser, Department of Economics and Econometrics, Free University
Amsterdam.
Robert P. de Vries, Department of Health Sciences, University of Limburg.
Ulrich Witt, Department of Economics, University of Freiburg.
Rudy van Zijp, Department of Economics and Econometrics, Free University
Amsterdam.
ix