Hayek

Hayek has been one of the key liberal thinkers of the twentiethcentury. He has also been much misunderstood. His work has crosseddisciplines - economics, philosophy and political science - andnational boundaries. He was an early critic of Keynes, and becamefamous in the 1940s for his warnings that the advance ofcollectivism in western democracies was the road to serfdom. He wasa key figure in the post-war revival of free market liberalism andachieved renewed notoriety and some political influence in the1970s and 1980s as one of the chief intellectual inspirations forthe New Right in Britain and the United States.This book traces Hayek's intellectual formation in Austrianeconomics and English liberalism. It analyzes the main themes ofhis thought such as the idea of a market order, the nature ofknowledge, the limits of government, and his critiques of socialismand conservatism, and assesses the originality and internalcoherence of his account of liberalism and modernity as well as hisinterventions in policy debates. It argues that Hayek the socialscientist has to be disentangled from Hayek the ideologue in orderto appreciate the importance and implications of some of hisinsights into the nature of modern societies.As a critical guide to one of the most influential thinkers ofour times, this book is an indispensable source. It will be ofinterest to students in politics, economics and philosophy, as wellas to all those interested in a comprehensive introduction to oneof the most controversial thinkers of the twentieth century.