F. A. Hayek and the Epistemology of Politics: The Curious Task of Economics

ISBN-13: 9781032174433 / Angielski / Miękka / 2021 / 216 str.

Scott Scheall

Opis

F. A. Hayek and the Epistemology of Politics is an exploration of a problem that has largely been ignored: the problem of policymaker ignorance, and the limits of political epistemology. Scott Scheall explores Hayek’s attitude to the philosophy of science and political philosophy.

Recenzje

"Scheall provides an engaging analysis of the possibility of applying Hayek’s methodology to policymaking in liberal democracies, rich in suggestions for both economists and political scientists. The discussion of the core idea of his book is enriched by many enlightening insights into the history of economics, such as the economic calculation debate, Hayek’s quarrels with Keynes, and the influence of philosophers and scientists like Adolph St€ohr and Hermann von Helmholtz on Hayek’s theory of knowledge and perception."

Francesco Di Iorio, European Journal of the History of Economic Thought

Spis treści

DedicationAbout the AuthorPrefaceAcknowledgementsIntroductionPart OneThe Problem of Policymaker IgnoranceChapter OnePolicymaker Ignorance: The First Problem of Politics and Political InquirySome Terminological ClarificationsThe Logically Ancillary Nature of the Problem of Policymaker IncentivesThe Logical Priority of the EpistemicMore about Epistemic BurdensThe Introspective Argument for the Logical Priority of the EpistemicThe Argument for the Logical Priority of the Epistemic from Ought Implies Can and Similar PrinciplesThe Problematic Nature of Political Decision-Making in Light of the Priority of the EpistemicPolicymaker Ignorance and Constituent DisappointmentA Taxonomy of Ignorant PolicymakersReflection and ForeshadowChapter TwoBeyond the Socialist Oasis: Hayek’s Extensions of Mises’ Calculation ArgumentThe Insurmountable Epistemic Burden of the Administrator of a Pure and Isolated Socialist OasisHayek’s Epistemology – A First PassExplanation, Prediction, and Control of Complex PhenomenaThe Epistemic Burdens of Socialist Administrators in Other ContextsThe "Mathematical Solution": Not a SolutionAbrogating Economic Freedom to Facilitate Solution of the Calculation ProblemThe Epistemic Burdens of the Central Planner under Market SocialismThe Epistemic Burden of Achieving Consensus concerning a Central PlanThe Epistemic Burdens of Countercyclical Economic Policymaking and Keynesian Demand ManagementThe Role of Ignorance in Hayek’s Early Theory of Industrial FluctuationsHayek’s Epistemic Theory of Industrial FluctuationsThe Generality of the Reasoning Underlying the Austrians’ Political-Epistemological ApproachReflection and ForeshadowChapter ThreeLiberalism and the Problem of Policymaker IgnoranceThe Epistemic Burdens of Realizing an Effective Liberal Order: The Problem of the Epistemic Requirements of Liberal TransitionsThe Artificiality of the Assumption of the Committed LiberalizerHayek’s Failure to See the Problem of the Epistemic Requirements of Liberal TransitionsPolitical Epistemology > "Epistemic Institutionalism"Robust Political Economy: Not a SolutionThe Epistemic Burden of Policymaking within Liberal EnvironmentsThe Epistemic Burden of Policy InactionReflection and ForeshadowPart TwoHayekian Political EpistemologyChapter FourThe Epistemological Aspects of Hayekian Political EpistemologyHayek versus Mises on Matters Epistemological, Part OneHayek as Theoretical Psychologist and Epistemological NaturalistSome Historical BackgroundHayek’s Conception of KnowledgeEpistemological Normativism vs. Epistemological NaturalismAssociation as the Principle that Explains the Complex Phenomena of Mental LifeHayekian A Priori Knowledge: Pre-Sensory LinkagesHayek versus Mises on Matters Epistemological, Part TwoHayek’s Radical EmpiricismEpistemic Justification and Hayek’s Non-Standard Conception of KnowledgeSubjective Data and Objective DataHayekian Political EpistemologyReflection and Foreshadow Chapter FivePolitical Order and Disorder as Epistemic PhenomenaKnowledge, Planning, Social Order, and Epistemic MechanismsFurther Epistemic Requirements of Social OrderHow Prices Tell You "What to Do"How Reputation Signals Tell Scientists (and Others) "What to Do"Political Order and DisorderReflection and ForeshadowChapter SixHayekian Political Epistemology as a Science of the Limits of Deliberate Political ActionHayek versus Keynes Yet AgainA General Schema for Empirical Political EpistemologyThe Hayek-Keynes Debate through the Lens of Political EpistemologyA Constitutional Approach to the Problem of Policymaker IgnoranceHow Hayek Should Have Responded to Keynes’ ChallengeFunctional Omniscience and OmnipotenceReflectionReflection and ForeshadowWhat the Argument Is and What the Argument Is NotBibliographyIndex

O autorze

Scott Scheall is Assistant Professor and Director of Graduate Studies in the Faculty of Social Science in Arizona State University’s College of Integrative Sciences and Arts, as well as Project Director for the History of Economic Thought in Arizona State University’s Center for the Study of Economic Liberty. He has published extensively on topics related to the history and philosophy of the Austrian School of economics. Scott is co-host of Smith and Marx Walk into a Bar: A History of Economics Podcast.