Advanced Topics in Liberty

Hayek on Liberty (Spring 2010)

January 22-24, 2010 - Arlington, VA

This conference will offer an overview and an introduction of some of the fundamental ideas of Friedrich A. Hayek. These include Hayek’s discussion of the rule of law and the importance of private property, his discussion of the market as a means of transmitting information and the significance of local knowledge, and his critique of collectivism and central planning.

Discussion Leader: Steven Horwitz, University of St. Lawrence, Economics Department 

Session 1:       Central Planning 

Hayek, Friedrich. “Freedom and the Economic System [1939]” Collected Works of F.A. Hayek, Volume X: Socialism and War. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1997. pp. 189-211

Session 2:       The Knowledge Problem 

Hayek, Friedrich. “The Use of Knowledge in Society” The American Economic Review. (Volume 35, Number 4, 1945): 519-530

Hayek, Friedrich. “The Pretence of Knowledge” New Studies in Philosophy, Politics, Economics and the History of Ideas. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1985. pp. 23-34

Session 3:       The Constitution of Liberty

Hayek, Friedrich. The Constitution of Liberty. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1978.  Part I, Chapters 1-3, pp 11-53

Session 4:       Spontaneous Order

Hayek, Friedrich. The Constitution of Liberty. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1978. Part I, Chapters 4-6, pp54-102

Session 5:       Coercion, Order, and the Rule of Law 

Hayek, Friedrich. The Constitution of Liberty. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1978. Part II, Chapters 9-11, pp133-175

Session 6:       Hayek, Classical Liberalism, and Conservatism 

Hayek, Friedrich. “Postscript: Why I Am Not a Conservative” The Constitution of Liberty. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1978.  pp.395-411 

Hayek, Friedrich. “The Principles of a Liberal Social Order” Studies in Philosophy, Politics and Economics. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1967.  pp.160-177