- 著者
-
江頭 進
塘 茂樹
- 出版者
- The Japanese Society for the History of Economic Thought
- 雑誌
- 経済学史学会年報 (ISSN:04534786)
- 巻号頁・発行日
- vol.45, no.45, pp.26-39, 2004 (Released:2010-08-05)
- 参考文献数
- 44
This paper deals with the influence of Othmar Spann, a Viennese professor of economics and sociology during the interwar period, on the development of Hayek's ideas. Spann was an examiner of Hayek when he obtained his Ph. D. in Political Science, and Hayek was a regular member of the Spann circle. Moreover, there is, at least on the surface, a similarity between Hayek's core theory of the Spontaneous Order developed mainly after the 1960s and Spann's Universalism.Hayek avoided mentioning Spann after the 1930s. However, in this article, we propose the hypothesis that Hayek never forgot Spann's arguments yet always maintained some distance from him. Hayek developed the theory of Spontaneous Order as an idea based on methodological individualism from the 1940s to the 1960s. However, some recent studies have pointed out the conflict between methodological individualism and holism in The Fatal Conceit (1988). Moreover, it is pointed out that his argument in later years has a holistic or institutional character compared with Friedman or Rothbard because he develops his assertion on the basis of the theory of Spontaneous Order. If we can accept this and the fact that our society largely depends on spontaneous order, there is a possibility that the problem of totalitarianism still remains. In this sense, the relationship between Hayek and Spann is one of the current issues in political economy.Hayek was always cautious about the confusion between his arguments and the assertion of conservatism, and we can say the same thing about Hayek and Spann's arguments. This fact suggests that analysis of the similarity and difference between the arguments of Hayek, which are one of the most important streams of modern liberalism, and those of Spann, is important from the viewpoint not only of the historical studies of social science but also in modern political science.In this article, we consider this hypothesis in three stages. First, we outline Spann's Universalism and Hayek's conception of the individualism. Second, we consider the influence of Spann on Hayek's doctoral dissertation. His dissertation deals with the Imputation Theory and the first half discusses the problem proposed by Spann. Third, we analyse the structural similarity between the arguments of Hayek after the 1970s and those of Spann. This similarity can be clarified in the light of evolutionism and relativeness.