This thesis examines how Friedrich Hayek’s concern with free market action led him to adopt a neo-roman concept of liberty and it traces how this development informed his view of the relationship between government, democracy and the economy. For Hayek, liberalism that made freedom in economic life its core concern was the ‘true’ liberalism, and he distinguished this from a ‘false’ liberalism that advocated government action as a means of enabling ‘self-development’. Influenced by Carl Schmitt, Hayek viewed the democratic process as encouraging false liberalism. Recognising the contested nature of liberalism, over the course of the 1940s and ‘50s he set out to decontest it: to win acceptance of his definition of the tradition. He sought to demonstrate the legitimacy of his true liberalism with reference to intellectual history and the work of Whig authors. It was in their work that Hayek came into contact with the neo-roman concept of liberty. Theirs however was a partial interpretation of Roman liberty. The generally privileged status of the Whig authors, combined with a genuine fear of government, resulted in a focus on the danger of public power, or imperium, to the exclusion of private power, or dominium. This complemented Hayek’s own opposition to government economic activity. This thesis contends that arriving at a concept of liberty was the pivotal point in Hayek’s intellectual career. From then on his work ceased to be defensive. Instead, despondent at the growing appeal of social justice in the 1960s and alarmed at union influence and inflation in the ‘70s, he actively promoted an alternative free market vision. This culminated in his intellectual emergency equipment: the ‘denationalisation of money’ and ‘a model constitution’. Informed by his partial version of the neo-roman concept, he advocated a weak state and a curtailment of democratic power. Despite his strong focus on imperium there are points in Hayek’s thought at which he recognises that private power can also pose a threat to free market action. This thesis concludes with the suggestion that integrating a more comprehensive version of the neo-roman concept of liberty into Hayek’s thought results in a very different vision of the appropriate relationship between government, democracy and the economy to the one he developed.

Univ., Diss.--Freiburg, 2007.

Univ., Diss.--Köln, 2003. / Literaturverz. S. [235] - 251.

Univ., Diss.--Köln, 2001. / Literaturverz. S. 171 - 202.

Zugl. Teildr. von: Bayreuth, Univ., Habil.-Schr., 2004/2005

Thesis (doctoral)--Uppsala universitet, 1993. / Errata slip inserted. Summary in English. Includes bibliographical references (p. 225-244).

Thesis (doctoral)--Uppsala universitet, 1993. / Errata slip inserted. Summary in English. Includes bibliographical references (p. 225-244).

Diss.--Wirtschaft--Karlsruhe--Univ., 1994. / Bibliogr. p. 211-227. Notes.

O propósito deste trabalho é estudar o Debate do Cálculo Econômico Socialista, desde a sua pré-história a partir da Revolução Marginalista e o seu início em 1920 com o artigo de Ludwig von Mises até a moderna retomada do mesmo na década de noventa. Argumentaremos que a fonte do desacordo pode ser traçada nas diferentes percepções sobre a complexidade do problema alocativo. A desconsideração dessa complexidade por sua vez levou os economistas a usar a teoria microeconômica padrão para construir um novo sistema econômico, desconsiderando as assimetrias entre explicação e previsão/controle existentes na teoria econômica neoclássica. Em cada fase do debate, elementos importantes dos mercados reais, geralmente desconsiderados pela teoria econômica então prevalecente, foram utilizados para criticar as tentativas de solução do problema do cálculo. Em particular, a articulação de Hayek da abordagem austríaca de processo de mercado foi em parte fruto do debate e ainda é relevante para avaliar os méritos das propostas modernas de socialismo de mercado e o significado da teoria micro em geral. / The purpose of this work is to study the Socialist Economic Calculation Debate, from its prehistory since the Marginalist Revolution and its beginning in 1920 with Ludwig von Mises article to the modern reopening of the discussions in the 90´s. We will argue that the source of the disagreement can be traced to the different perceptions about the complexity of the allocative problem. The neglect of this complexity in turn lead the economists to use the standard microeconomic theory to construct a new economic system, disregarding the asymmetries between explanation and prediction/control in neoclassical economic theory. At each phase of the debate, important elements of the real markets, usually disregarded by the economic theory prevailing in the moment, were used to criticize the attempts to find a solution to the calculation problem. Particularly, Hayek´s articulation of the Austrian or market process approach to economic theory was in part fruit of this debate and is still relevant to evaluate the merits of the modern market socialist proposals and the significance of micro theory in general.

The affinity between the work of the Austrian economist Friedrich A. Hayek and the approach of Complexity Economics is widely recognized by the literature. In spite of this, there still is a lack of studies that seek to analyze in depth the relationship between Hayek and complexity. This dissertation is a contribution to the filling of this large gap in the literature. In the first part of the work, we analyze the various periods in the development of Hayek\'s vision of complexity, showing that this vision is strongly present in his works on knowledge, competition, methodology, evolution, and spontaneous order. In the second part, we explore how Hayek was influenced by two of the main precursors of modern complexity theory - cybernetics and general system theory - from the time he was working on his book on theoretical psychology, The Sensory Order (1952), until the end of his intellectual career. / A afinidade entre a obra do economista austríaco Friedrich A. Hayek e a abordagem da Economia e Complexidade é amplamente reconhecida pela literatura. Apesar disso, ainda há grande carência de estudos que busquem analisar de forma aprofundada a relação entre Hayek e a complexidade. Esta dissertação é uma contribuição para o preenchimento dessa grande lacuna na literatura. Na primeira parte do trabalho, os diversos períodos no desenvolvimento da visão de complexidade de Hayek são analisados, evidenciando-se como tal visão está fortemente presente em seus trabalhos sobre conhecimento, competição, metodologia, evolução e ordem espontânea. Na segunda parte, exploramos como Hayek foi influenciado por dois dos principais precursores da moderna teoria da complexidade - a cibernética e a teoria geral do sistema - desde o período em que estava trabalhando no seu livro sobre psicologia teórica, The Sensory Order (1952), até o final de sua carreira intelectual.