![]() ![]() ![]() It is with respect to this that practically every individual has some advantage over all others because he possesses unique information of which beneficial use might be made, but of which use can be made only if the decisions depending on it are left to him or are made with his active cooperation.â But a little reflection will show that there is beyond question a body of very important but unorganized knowledge which cannot possibly be called scientific in the sense of knowledge of general rules: the knowledge of the particular circumstances of time and place. Today it is almost heresy to suggest that scientific knowledge is not the sum of all knowledge. ![]() What I wish to point out is that, even assuming that this problem can be readily solved, it is only a small part of the wider problem. This article argues that Hayek's philosophy is completed and enriched by Jasay's seminal work.ÂIt may be admitted that, as far as scientific knowledge is concerned, a body of suitably chosen experts may be in the best position to command all the best knowledge availableâthough this is of course merely shifting the difficulty to the problem of selecting the experts. Apparently, in the long run, a free society cannot survive without a deontic moral system. Hayek's philosophy of the free society is based upon these theories, including his descriptive ethics. In the evolution of humankind, two rule systems have evolved: the moral system that stabilizes the face-to-face group and the system of abstract rules that makes possible social life in the large, anonymous society. The so-called “socialist calculation debate” is a spin-off of this insight. The only viable way of co-locating relevant knowledge and decision rights is vesting decision responsibility in the owners of knowledge through the free, private market. Knowledge is elicited in the market process, be it a commercial market or the “market of ideas.” The competitive market functions as a discovery and selection mechanism. Hayek's key questions are: How to use knowledge?, and How to elicit it? Existing dispersed (local) knowledge constitutes an epistemic resource, a sort of wealth. The market is logically and, hence, historically prior to any proto-state authority. Property breeds order, but not the other way round. Attention is drawn to parallels with synergetics-how order emerges out of chaos. The concept of spontaneous order is central to Hayek's theory of cultural evolution. Popper's methodology of research has been generalized to Evolutionary Epistemology. ![]() The Vienna of Austrian Economics, of Logical Empiricism, and its main critic Popper, form the background. The epistemological basis of Hayek's moral and political philosophy is outlined. ![]()
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