 First edition dust jacket | |
| Author | Friedrich Hayek |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Subject | Politics, Economics |
| Publisher | University of Chicago Press (US) |
Publication date | 1960 |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 576 |
| ISBN | 0-226-32084-7 |
The Constitution of Liberty is a book written by Friedrich Hayek, first published in 1960 by the University of Chicago Press. Many scholars have considered The Constitution of Liberty as the most important work by Hayek. [1]
In 1950, when Hayek moved to Chicago, he had been working on The Abuse and Decline of Reason essays for a while; some of the early findings had been published in Individualism and Economic Order (1948), and more would be published in The Counter-Revolution of Science (1952). He was interested in the connection between societal transformation and the manner in which scientific knowledge is presented. In comparison to being a member of the economics department, he fared substantially better on the Committee on Social Thought. On March 7, 1954, Hayek requested funding from the Guggenheim Foundation for his travels to Italy and Greece. He did this not only for his study of John Stuart Mill, but also because he believed that visiting these non-industrialized regions would help him better understand how tradition and culture develop in agrarian societies. He was concerned in the development of nonrational, but nonverbally explicit, rules and traditions. He planned to publish two books on the liberal order, The Constitution of Liberty and "The Creative Powers of a Free Civilization" (eventually the title for the second chapter of The Constitution of Liberty). He completed The Constitution of Liberty in May 1959, with publication in February 1960. [2]
According to Bruce Caldwell, the challenges posed by H. D. Dickinson and John Maynard Keynes to Hayek's ideas on political philosophy and economics, Dickinson asked for a positive program from opponents of collectivism, while Keynes wanted guidance on where to draw the line between good and bad government intervention. Hayek addressed these challenges in this book. [3]
"Why I am Not a Conservative" is a critique of conservatism. Hayek argues that conservatism is too focused on preserving the status quo and is resistant to change, which can lead to a lack of progress and innovation. He also argues that conservatism is often associated with authoritarianism and can be a threat to individual liberty. [4]
Postscript: Why I am Not a Conservative
Sidney Hook criticized Hayek's belief in the superiority of tradition over reason and his rejection of intelligent social control. Hook argued that history shows the dangers of relying solely on non-rational processes, and planning can coexist with democracy and freedom. Hook also criticizes Hayek's narrow definition of freedom and his binary thinking. While he acknowledged Hayek's value as a cautionary voice, he ultimately said that Hayek's economic philosophy could lead to disaster. [5]
Lionel Robbins agreed with Hayek's emphasis on the non-rational element in social habits and institutions, but expressed concern that this emphasis may lead to indiscriminate acceptance and admiration of all institutions and habits, including those that are harmful. Robbins noted a contrast between Hume and Burke, with Hume being more willing to subject institutions to critical scrutiny based on public utility, while Burke's conservatism sometimes becomes indefensible. Robbins also disagreed with Hayek's classification of nineteenth century English Utilitarians as "false" Continental Rationalists, and argued that their thought was squarely within the tradition of English empiricism and not deserving of the label "false" liberalism. Robbins also suggested that Bentham and his followers were not doctrinaire individualists, but rather had nuanced views on economic organization and were not necessarily supportive of collectivization. [6]
Frank Knight criticized Hayek for its lack of attention to the critical events and principles of the Liberal Revolution that established democratic societies, emphasizing the importance of democracy, political order, and rule of law. Knight criticized Hayek for being scornful towards politically organized freedom. Knight accused Hayek of making anarchist statements that exclude rulers and limit legislation logically, and that Hayek's criticisms of democracy imply that the government should do nothing unless to enforce universally known laws. He also criticized Hayek's treatment of equality, arguing that his extreme absolutism is a mistake. Knight further accused Hayek of reaching a supreme absurdity in his discussion of equality of opportunity, ignoring the role of social structures in shaping opportunities and the consequences of history and social forces on individual achievements. [7]
Jacob Viner argued that Hayek's conclusions are unconditional because Hayek selected extreme positions to attack and works with a limited set of values. According to Viner, This approach can lead to logical fallacies, such as attacking a straw man or the fallacy of the unexplored remainder. He also questioned Hayek's doctrine appears similar to social Darwinism and historicism. [8]
Ronald Hamowy criticized Hayek's views on coercion and the difficulty in defining it within his theoretical framework. He criticized Hayek's proposed framework, arguing that it allows for the concentration of power in the hands of the state and can lead to the overthrow of personal liberty. Hamowy concluded that Hayek's position on coercion and freedom must be rejected due to its inconsistencies. [9] Hayek responded to Hamowy's criticism. [10]
The Constitution of Liberty was notably held up at a British Conservative Party policy meeting and banged on the table by Margaret Thatcher, who reportedly interrupted a presentation to indicate, in reference to the book, that "This is what we believe". [11] [12] [13]
The Constitution of Liberty was placed 9th on the list of the 100 best non-fiction books of the twentieth century compiled by the biweekly conservative magazine National Review . [14]
Classical liberalism is a political tradition and a branch of liberalism which advocates free market and laissez-faire economics; and civil liberties under the rule of law, with special emphasis on individual autonomy, limited government, economic freedom, political freedom and freedom of speech. Classical liberalism, contrary to liberal branches like social liberalism, looks more negatively on social policies, taxation and the state involvement in the lives of individuals, and it advocates deregulation.
Friedrich August von Hayek, often referred to by his initials F. A. Hayek, was an Austrian-British economist and political philosopher who made contributions to economics, political philosophy, psychology, intellectual history, and other fields. Hayek shared the 1974 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences with Gunnar Myrdal for work on money and economic fluctuations, and the interdependence of economic, social and institutional phenomena. His account of how prices communicate information is widely regarded as an important contribution to economics that led to him receiving the prize.
Frank Hyneman Knight was an American economist who spent most of his career at the University of Chicago, where he became one of the founders of the Chicago School.
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Jacob Viner was a Canadian economist and is considered with Frank Knight and Henry Simons to be one of the "inspiring" mentors of the early Chicago school of economics in the 1930s: he was one of the leading figures of the Chicago faculty. Paul Samuelson named Viner as one of the several "American saints in economics" born after 1860. He was an important figure in the field of political economy.
The Road to Serfdom is a book written between 1940 and 1943 by Austrian-British economist and philosopher Friedrich Hayek. Since its publication in 1944, The Road to Serfdom has been popular among liberal and conservative thinkers, and remains referenced in modern discourse. It has been translated into more than 20 languages and sold over two million copies. The book was first published in Britain by Routledge in March 1944, during World War II, and was quite popular, leading Hayek to call it "that unobtainable book", also due in part to wartime paper rationing. It was published in the United States by the University of Chicago Press in September 1944 and achieved great popularity. At the arrangement of editor Max Eastman, the American magazine Reader's Digest published an abridged version in April 1945, enabling The Road to Serfdom to reach a wider non-academic audience.
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Frank Straus Meyer was an American philosopher and political activist best known for his theory of "fusionism" – a political philosophy that unites elements of libertarianism and traditionalism into a philosophical synthesis which is posited as the definition of modern American conservatism. Meyer's philosophy was presented in two books, primarily In Defense of Freedom: A Conservative Credo (1962) and also in a collection of his essays, The Conservative Mainstream (1969). Fusionism has been summed up by E. J. Dionne, Jr. as "utilizing libertarian means in a conservative society for traditionalist ends."
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In the United States, libertarianism is a political philosophy promoting individual liberty. According to common meanings of conservatism and liberalism in the United States, libertarianism has been described as conservative on economic issues and liberal on personal freedom, often associated with a foreign policy of non-interventionism. Broadly, there are four principal traditions within libertarianism, namely the libertarianism that developed in the mid-20th century out of the revival tradition of classical liberalism in the United States after liberalism associated with the New Deal; the libertarianism developed in the 1950s by anarcho-capitalist author Murray Rothbard, who based it on the anti-New Deal Old Right and 19th-century libertarianism and American individualist anarchists such as Benjamin Tucker and Lysander Spooner while rejecting the labor theory of value in favor of Austrian School economics and the subjective theory of value; the libertarianism developed in the 1970s by Robert Nozick and founded in American and European classical liberal traditions; and the libertarianism associated with the Libertarian Party, which was founded in 1971, including politicians such as David Nolan and Ron Paul.
Right-libertarianism, also known as libertarian capitalism, right-wing libertarianism, or colloquially as libright is a libertarian political philosophy that supports capitalist property rights and defends market distribution of natural resources and private property. The term right-libertarianism is used to distinguish this class of views on the nature of property and capital from left-libertarianism, a type of libertarianism that combines self-ownership with an egalitarian approach to natural resources. In contrast to socialist libertarianism, right-libertarianism supports free-market capitalism. Like most forms of libertarianism, it supports civil liberties, especially natural law, negative rights, the non-aggression principle, and a major reversal of the modern welfare state.
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Ronald Hamowy was a Canadian academic, known primarily for his contributions to political and social academic fields. At the time of his death, he was professor emeritus of intellectual history at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada. Hamowy was closely associated with the political ideology of libertarianism and his writings and scholarship place particular emphasis on individual liberty and the limits of state action in a free society. He is associated with a number of prominent American libertarian organizations.
Conservatism: An Invitation to the Great Tradition is a 2017 book by English philosopher Roger Scruton, in which the author outlines the development of modern conservatism. It is intended as an introduction to conservatism, with the author stating, "I have written this book in the hope of encouraging well-meaning liberals to take a look at what [the] arguments [for conservatism] really are”.
Quotations related to The Constitution of Liberty at Wikiquote