Normative judgments and spontaneous order: The contractarian element in Hayek's thought |
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Authors: | Robert Sugden |
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Institution: | (1) University of East Anglia, UK |
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Abstract: | This paper explores the apparent tension between Hayek's moral skepticism and his role as a defender of liberal institutions.
It looks at Hayek's concept of spontaneous order, and asks whether there are any grounds for claiming that spontaneous orders
have moral value. The argument from group selection is considered but rejected. Hayek is interpreted as putting most weight
on arguments which show, for specific orders (such as the market and common law) that their rules assist each individual in
the pursuit of his or her ends, whatever those ends may be. It is suggested that this form of argument is contractarian in
character. However, Hayek's contractarianism is distinctive in that it looks for agreement among individuals within an ongoing
social order, rather than among rational agents who stand outside any particular society.
This paper was written while I was a Visiting Scholar at the Social Philosophy and Policy Center, Bowling Green State University;
I am very grateful for the Center's support. An early version was presented at the Friedrich August von Hayek Memorial Symposium
in Freiburg, in June 1993. In revising the paper, I have benefited from the comments of the participants at that symposium. |
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Keywords: | B31 D63 |
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