Hayek and Popper: On Rationality, Economism, and Democracy

199 Pages·2014·1.057 MB·English

by  Mark Amadeus Notturno

Hayek and Popper
Friedrich von Hayek and Karl Popper were two of the twentieth century’s great-
est thinkers, and two of its greatest proponents of freedom and open society.
They were also close friends, and even people who are very familiar with their
writings often think that their philosophical, economic, and political views are
more or less the same.
This book, however, argues that Hayek and Popper differed in fundamental ways
about rationality, economism, and democracy—and that these differences, and the
different ways in which Hayek and Popper argued for them, lie at the heart of polit-
ical thought and still have significant consequences for our own political discourse
today. It argues that Hayek and Popper disagreed about whether and to what extent
society is well served by deliberate attempts at government intervention; about
whether and to what extent democracy involves majority rule; and, most impor-
tantly, about whether we should value freedom for its own sake, as an end in itself,
or merely as a means to greater prosperity and wealth. This volume argues that, con-
trary to Popper, Hayek was prepared to accept socialism—which in his view logi-
cally implies totalitarianism—if it could be shown to be at least as efficient and
productive as the market; that his concept of freedom is grounded in the same sort
of economism that Popper criticized in Marx; and that he proposed reforms to the
electoral system that would actually transform a democracy into what Popper would
have regarded as a tyranny. Finally, it ascribes the increasing polarization of polit-
ical and policy discussion we see today to these differences about rationality, econo-
mism, and democracy, and argues that Hayek’s views about them are not only
fundamentally at odds with Popper’s and perhaps even with open society itself, but
that Popper’s views should be decidedly prefera ble to those who love freedom.
Mark Amadeus Notturno is a Fellow at Interactivity Foundation and the Director
of governance projects on ‘Privacy and Privacy Rights’, ‘Science’, ‘Property’,
‘Democratic Nation Building’, ‘Money, Credit, and Debt’, ‘Global Responsibility
for Children’, and ‘The Future of Employment’. Mark was a friend and associate
of Sir Karl Popper, and has lectured on Popper’s philosophy in over 20 countries.
His previous books include On Popper and Science and the Open Society.
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