A Study Of Hayek's Thinking Of Law

Hayek was a great thinker of the 20's century and a firm defender of liberalism who spared no effort to critisize planned economy, collectivism, socialism and totalitarianism in his academic life. In the process of doing research into numerous fields, Hayek based on evolutionary rationalism and traced back to classical liberalism other than the tradition of 'rule of law' and Rechtsstaat, hoping to put forward a new way to settle a series of complicated problems faced by modern society. In this way, he formed a special ideaology of law.In order to get a thorough review of Hayek's thinking of law, the article is divided into four parts. The first part is about the epistemological foundation, namely evolutionary rationalism and inevitable ignorance. The second part is about some significant conceptions, including order, rule, and law, etc. The third part goes further to analysize the connotations of private law and public law, and inquires into the attributions and correction of the private law, as well as the position and function of public law, etc. The last part of the article gives some reflections on the value of Hayek's thinkings.