An Analysis Of Hayek's Liberalism Political Philosophy

This thesis studies Hayek's theory of liberalism from the perspective of political philosophy. It aims explores not only the logic of Hayek's theory of liberty, but also the significance and potential that his logic of liberty has.Starting with the origin of Hayek's liberalism, this paper discusses the development history of his theory. The outbreak of World Warâ… , the economic plan came into being, the emergence of Fascism, the rise of Keynesianism, socialism and other thoughts on the impact of liberalism, which are produced by Hayek liberal theory background and the social and historical reasons. Meanwhile, this paper combines the early infulence of the classical liberalism and analyzes the supporting philosophical basis of Hayek's liberal theory, that the limited rationalism, epistemology and methodology of individualism. The paper traces Hayek's liberty to liberalism tradition, after this, sorts out the connotation of Hayek's concept of liberty in detail, and then analyzes the the whole theory's construction process and internal logic which Hayek on the pursuit and protection of liberty.With the theory of spontaneous order being the basis and the core of Hayek's theoretical system of liberalism, this thesis attempts to make Hayek's thought understood correctly by introducing and analyzing the theory of spontaneous order. In Hayek's academic career, his studies has always centered about the spontaneous order in human society, his task of the social theory is reconstruction of spontaneous order in the society. Therefore, we can say that the thought of spontaneous order is the key of his whole social theory. This thesis has a definition of spontaneous order, and expounds its formation conditions and evolution mode, the thesis then discusses the ideological origins of this theory as well as its significance and limitations.At the same time, the thesis explores the core concepts under the spontaneous order such as liberty, law, equality and the relationship between each other. Hayek's view of liberty is spread by the issue of liberty protection. Through exploring the relationship among the key elements such as law, the rule of just conduct, the paper summarizes the logic path of Hayek's belief, i.e., to protect liberty relies on the rule of law.Hayek's liberalism is not perfect, especially his advocacy of Western capitalism, and the strong criticism of socialism in stark contrast. This paper make a theoretical assessment to the Hayek's liberalism political philosophy, and give a profound criticism to the Hayek's liberalism in Marx's perspective, understanding Hayek's liberalism from the perspective of dialectical, and also discussing the transcendence of Marx's theory of human liberation.