The Context and the Intellectual Background of Hayek’s Political Theory

Abstract

F. A. Hayek’s death in the city of Freiburg on the 23 March 1992 is regarded by many students and proponents of his work as a symbolic moment; it is explicitly or implicitly linked with the abandonment of Marxism and socialism as intellectual ideals and the political triumph of liberalism at the dawn of the 21st century (Glasner, 1992, p. 48; Papaioannou, 2003, p. 230; Feser, 2006a, p. 1). Such a symbolism however, is mainly due to the fact that Hayek’s life and work is viewed as a consistent attempt at restating fundamental principles of classical liberalism¹ (Gray, 1984, pp. 1-2; Green, 1987, p. 111; Kukathas, 1989, p. 13; Conway, 1995, p. 8; Feser, 2006a, p. 4). Nevertheless, that view seems to be developed in abstraction from the essential relationship which emerges between the context of Hayek’s philosophy and his intellectual background.