Hayek's Liberalism and Its Origins

By exploring the writings of Mandeville, Hume and Smith, this book offers a critique of Hayek's theory of cultural evolution and explores the roots of his powerful defence of liberalism. This book is an original contribution to the debate, and vital reading for researchers in politics, political theory, and economics.

Autorentext

Christina Petsoulas is Associate Researcher at the Centre for Socio-Legal Studies, Wolfson College, Oxford.

Inhalt

Introduction; Chapter 1 F.A. Hayek's theory of spontaneous order; Chapter 2 Spontaneous order and the limits of reason; Chapter 3 Mandeville's paradox 'private vices, public benefits'; Chapter 4 Artifice and order in Hume; Chapter 5 Adam Smith: sympathy, 'invisible hand' and the 'man of public spirit'; Bibliography; Conclusion; Index;