Evolução e desígnio em Hayek

Abstract

In an examination of Hayek's social philosophy, the article seeks to distinguish between socio-epistemological arguments, which postulate the radical ignorance of social actors, and the conservative political conclusions usually associated with Hayek's thought, which prophesy the destruction of the spontaneous order owing to efforts to intervene in the social world. The ultimate purpose of drawing this distinction is to lay the ground for a discussion of a new alliance, one between these arguments and the possibility of design. This exploration of multi-sided Hayekian argumentation allows us to identify some ambiguities essential towards the article's purposes. The most important ambiguity appears in the argument against planned changes, where Hayek describes the foreseeable negative consequences of such changes and also sketches the scenario shaped by the foreseeable beneficial effects of the undisturbed operation of the spontaneous order.