Murray N. Rothbard vs. the Philosophers - Ludwig von Mises Institute

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LAW AND NATURE IN THE WORK OF MURRAY N. ROTHBARD 37 very same process of spontaneous social evolution that includes the market, religion, law and language.” 66 On this basis, Rothbard thinks that Hayek is a conservative, even if Hayek denies this in his concluding essay in The Constitution of Liberty, “Why I Am Not a Conservative.” Explaining the reasons he rejects conservatism, Hayek writes, the main point about liberalism is that it wants to go elsewhere, not to stand still. . . . It has never been a backward-looking doctrine. . . . Liberalism is not averse to evolution and change; and where spontaneous change has been smothered by government control, it wants a great deal of change of policy. . . . It would seem to the liberal, indeed, that what is most urgently needed in most parts of the world is a thorough sweeping away of the obstacles to free growth . . . the admiration of the conservatives for free growth generally applies only to the past . . . one of the fundamental traits of the conservative attitude is a fear of change, a timid distrust of the new as such. . . . It is, indeed, part of the liberal attitude to assume that, especially in the economic field, the self-regulating forces of the market will somehow bring about the required adjustments to new conditions, although no one can foretell how they will do this in a particular instance. 67 Besides, Hayek’s attitude toward American institutions makes clear his position regarding tradition; he explains that “to the liberal they are valuable not mainly because they are long established or because they are American but because they correspond to the ideals which he cherishes.” 68 Thus, 66Raimondo Cubeddu, Introduction to La libertà e la legge, by Bruno Leoni (Macerata, Italy: Liberilibri, 1994), p. xiii. 67Hayek, The Constitution of Liberty, pp. 399–400. 68 Ibid., p. 399.
MURRAY N. ROTHBARD VS. THE PHILOSOPHERS: UNPUBLISHED WRITINGS 38 ON HAYEK, MISES, STRAUSS, AND POLYANI Hayek denies being a conservative, since he believes in free competition and in change. As observed by Sergio Ricossa in his introduction to the Italian edition of The Constitution of Liberty, “when you are for life, free growth, and spontaneous evolution, it is not possible to have greater esteem for a conservative party in the strict sense than a driver has for the brakes of his car, even if they are extremely useful.” 69 The authors of the introduction to the Italian edition of Law, Legislation, and Liberty find the demarcation line between conservatism and Hayekian thought in the fact that the great value of tradition lies, for Hayek, in its rational nature, because it has developed by means of an evolutionary and competitive process. In this way, the value of tradition does not consist in the “mere fact of there being traditions,” a characteristic feature of authentic conservative and reactionary thought. 70 CRITICISM OF THE CONCEPT OF COERCION IN HAYEK THE CONCEPT OF COERCION is one of the issues that arouses Rothbard’s polemic force. He in part approves of Hayek’s initial definition of liberty as an “absence of interpersonal coercion,” but he considers that it marks the beginning of 69Sergio Ricossa, Introduction to La società libera, by F.A. Hayek, trans. Marcella Bianchi di Lavagna Malagodi (Florence, Italy: Vallecchi Editore, 1969), p. 10. 70A.M. Petroni and S. Monti Bragadin, Introduction to F.A. Hayek, Legge, legislazione e libertà, trans. Pier Giuseppe Monateri (Milano, Italy: Il Saggiatore, 1989), p. xxii.
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CHRONOLOGY OF THE LIFE AND WORKS OF
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REFERENCES 1 Buckley, William F. Go
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REFERENCES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY 151 BIB
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REFERENCES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY 153 Dav
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REFERENCES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY 155 giv
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“Absolutes, Relativism, and the S
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INDEX 161 environment, 123-24 Essay
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INDEX 163 Jesuits, 24 judges, 69 ju
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INDEX 165 Oriental Despotism (Wittf
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INDEX 167 Socrates, 26n42 solidarit
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Murray N. Rothbard vs. the Philosophers - Ludwig von Mises Institute

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