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8 - Friedrich Hayek on the nature of social order and law

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2012

Catherine H. Zuckert
Affiliation:
University of Notre Dame, Indiana
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Summary

The standing of F. A. Hayek (1899–1992) as one of the most important social and legal theorists of the twentieth century rests largely on the depth and insight of his challenge to two presumptions that dominated most twentieth-century social and legal thought. The first is the presumption that rational and beneficial social order must be intentionally planned or designed order; the second is that law must be the (intentional) command of an authority that, as the source of law, cannot itself be subject to law. This chapter presents the crucial elements of Hayek's challenge to these commonly held presumptions. Combined with an appreciation of the alternative conceptions of social order and law that Hayek offers, the recognition of the nature, pervasiveness, and falsity of these commonly held presumptions supports a radical and illuminating transformation in our understanding of the nature and value of social, economic, and legal order.

Type
Chapter
Information
Political Philosophy in the Twentieth Century
Authors and Arguments
, pp. 129 - 141
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2011

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References

Hayek, F. A.The Constitution of LibertyChicagoUniversity of Chicago Press 1960Google Scholar
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Individualism and Economic OrderChicagoUniversity of Chicago Press 1948 1
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Collected WorksChicagoUniversity of Chicago Press 1988
SocialismKahane, J.Indianapolis, INLiberty Fund 1981
Ferguson, AdamAn Essay on the History of Civil SocietyLondon 1767 187Google Scholar
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Nozick, RobertAnarchy, State, and UtopiaNew YorkBasic Books 1974 18Google Scholar
Denationalisation of MoneyLondonInstitute for Economic Affairs 1990
Mack, EricHayek on Justice and the Order of ActionsThe Cambridge Companion to HayekFeser, EdwardCambridgeCambridge University Press 2006 259CrossRefGoogle Scholar

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