In Beyond Nihilism, Michael Polanyi argued that a merely "negative" liberty of doing as one pleases so long as one does not impinge upon the equal liberty of others - must and has led to destructive nihilism and a fierce reaction to collectivism. R.T. Allen takes up this argument in Beyond Liberalism, and shows how Polanyi's political philosophy evolved into a more "positive" and distinctly conservative concept of liberty, converging upon the archetypal conservatism of Edmund Burke. Allen examines Polanyi's and F.A. Hayek's thinking with respect to the nature, value, and foundations of...