How can Hayek’s epistemic institutionalism contribute to seeking social justice? I contribute to Peter Boettke’s project by bridging the gap between the Hayekian critique of social justice and its reception among normatively committed theorists and philosophers.
I begin by summarising some inter-related cases proposed by political theorists for rejecting Hayek’s critique of social justice. I add to Boettke’s resources some context around Hayek’s epistemology that establishes quite how deep the problem of coordination goes. I explain the necessary role that appreciative theory plays in our way of understanding the relationship between social morality and society. I then explain how appreciative theory goes some way to answering Hayek’s critics. This highlights the possible overlap between Rawlsian and Hayekian approaches to public policy. Finally, I outline how a positive research program might combine Hayekian insights with the pursuit of social justice, or at the very least the progressive amelioration of the conditions of the relatively disadvantaged.
University of Lincoln, College of Social Science Research
Dr Nick Cowen, University of Lincoln, School of Social and Political Sciences