All Topics  
The Fatal Conceit

 

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

The Fatal Conceit
 
 
  Topics The Fatal Conceit Topic Home

The Fatal Conceit: The Errors of Socialism is a non-fiction book by the economist and political philosopher Friedrich Hayek
Friedrich Hayek

Friedrich August von Hayek Order of the Companions of Honour was an Austrian economist and philosopher known throughout the world for his defense of classical liberalism and free market capitalism against socialism and collectivism thought....
 and edited by William Warren Bartley
William Warren Bartley

William Warren Bartley, III, was an United States Professor of Philosophy, a Senior Research Fellow at Stanford University and an author....
.

book attempts to conclusively refute all forms of Socialism
Socialism

Socialism refers to a broad set of economic theories of social organization advocating public or state ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods, and a society characterized by equality for all individuals, with a fair or Egalitarianism method of compensation....
 by demonstrating that socialist theories are not only logically incorrect but that the premises they use to form their arguments are incorrect as well. To Hayek the birth of civilization is due to the start of societal traditions placing importance on private property leading to expansion, trade, and eventually the modern capitalist system.






Discussion
Ask a question about 'The Fatal Conceit'
Start a new discussion about 'The Fatal Conceit'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


The Fatal Conceit: The Errors of Socialism is a non-fiction book by the economist and political philosopher Friedrich Hayek
Friedrich Hayek

Friedrich August von Hayek Order of the Companions of Honour was an Austrian economist and philosopher known throughout the world for his defense of classical liberalism and free market capitalism against socialism and collectivism thought....
 and edited by William Warren Bartley
William Warren Bartley

William Warren Bartley, III, was an United States Professor of Philosophy, a Senior Research Fellow at Stanford University and an author....
.

Main thesis and arguments

The book attempts to conclusively refute all forms of Socialism
Socialism

Socialism refers to a broad set of economic theories of social organization advocating public or state ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods, and a society characterized by equality for all individuals, with a fair or Egalitarianism method of compensation....
 by demonstrating that socialist theories are not only logically incorrect but that the premises they use to form their arguments are incorrect as well. To Hayek the birth of civilization is due to the start of societal traditions placing importance on private property leading to expansion, trade, and eventually the modern capitalist system. Socialists are wrong because they disregard the fact that modern civilization naturally evolved and was not planned. Additionally, since modern civilization and all of its customs and traditions naturally led to the current order and are needed for its continuance, any fundamental change to the system that tries to control it is doomed to fail since it would be impossible or unsustainable in modern civilization. Price signals are the only means of enabling each economic decision maker to communicate tacit knowledge
Tacit knowledge

The concept of tacit knowing comes from scientist and philosopher Michael Polanyi. It is important to understand that he wrote about a process and not a form of :Category:Knowledge....
 or dispersed knowledge
Dispersed knowledge

In economics, dispersed knowledge is information that is dispersed throughout the marketplace, and is not in the hands of any single agent. All agents in the market have imperfect knowledge; however, they all have a good indicator of everyone else's knowledge and intentions, and that is the price....
 to each other, in order to solve the economic calculation problem
Economic calculation problem

The economic calculation problem is a criticism of socialist economics, or more precisely economic planning. It was first proposed by Ludwig von Mises in 1920 and later expounded by Friedrich Hayek....
.

Contents

  • Introduction: Was Socialism a Mistake?
  • 1. Between Instinct and Reason
  • 2. The Origins of Liberty, Property and Justice
  • 3. The Evolution of the Market: Trade and Civilisation
  • 4. The Revolt of Instinct and Reason
  • 5. The Fatal Conceit
  • 6. The Mysterious World of Trade and Money
  • 7. Our Poisoned Language
  • 8. The Extended Order and Population Growth
  • 9. Religion and the Guardians of Tradition
  • Appendix A. 'Natural' vs. 'Artificial'
  • Appendix B. The Complexity of Problems of Human Interaction
  • Appendix C. Time and the Emergence and Replication of Structures
  • Appendix D. Alienation, Dropouts, and the Claims of Parasites
  • Appendix E. Play, the School of Rules
  • Appendix F. Remarks on the Economics and Anthropology of Population
  • Appendix G. Superstition and the Preservation of Tradition


Controversy

There is much scholarly debate on how much influence William Warren Bartley
William Warren Bartley

William Warren Bartley, III, was an United States Professor of Philosophy, a Senior Research Fellow at Stanford University and an author....
 had on writing the book. Officially, Bartley was the editor who was supposed to prepare the book for publication once Hayek fell ill in 1985; however, the inclusion of material from Bartley's philosophical point of view and citations that other people provided to Bartley have led people to question how much of the book was written by Hayek and whether Hayek knew about the added material.