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

LAW AND NATURE IN THE WORK OF MURRAY N. ROTHBARD 39
Hayek’s “descent into the abyss.” 71 For Rothbard, the idea
of coercion as a threat or intent to harm is excessively broad
since it would allow, the possibility of identifying both a variety
of coercive situations requiring protection by the government,
but also a whole range of government activities
that are not really coercive.
Here, it is first of all necessary to clear up a misunderstanding.
As Hayek was keen to emphasize, the most significant
thing in The Constitution of Liberty is not so much the
definition of liberty as an absence of coercion, but rather as
“that condition of men in which coercion of some by others
is reduced as much as is possible in society.” 72 Rothbard felt
that coercion was the use of “physical violence or the threat
thereof.” 73 According to Hayek, “By ‘coercion’ we mean such
control of the environment or circumstances of a person by
another that, in order to avoid greater evil, he is forced to
act not according to a coherent plan of his own, but to serve
the ends of another.” He goes on to say that, “Coercion
71Rothbard, “Memo to the Volker Fund on F.A. Hayek’s Constitution
of Liberty”; see p. 61 in this volume.
72Hayek, Constitution of Liberty, p. 11; F.A. Hayek, Studies in
Philosophy, Politics and Economics (London: Routledge and Kegan
Paul, 1967), p. 348. Here Hayek replies to the criticisms made by
Ronald Hamowy in a 1961 review. Cf. Ronald Hamowy, “Hayek’s
Concept of Freedom: A Critique,” New Individualist Review 1, no.
1 (1961): 28–31. Hamowy’s reasoning was very close to that of
Rothbard. Hayek’s many concessions to the role of government led
to numerous criticisms on the part of libertarian thinkers. See
Ronald Hamowy, “Freedom and the Rule of Law in F.A. Hayek,” Il
politico (1971–1972): 355–56; “Law and the Liberal Society: F.A.
Hayek’s Constitution of Liberty,” Journal of Libertarian Studies 2,
no. 4 (1978): 287–97; John N. Gray, “F.A. Hayek on Liberty and
Tradition,” Journal of Libertarian Studies 4, no. 2 (1980): 119–37.
Rothbard’s criticism of the Hayekian concept of coercion can be
found in “Hayek on Coercion and Freedom,” Literature of Liberty
(Winter 1980): 53–54. See also Ethics of Liberty, pp. 219–29.
73Rothbard, “Memo to the Volker Fund on F.A. Hayek’s Constitution
of Liberty”; see p. 61 in this volume.