FRIEDRICH HAYEK ON GAY MARRIAGE?: From the Boston Globe

SHORTLY AFTER the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court's decision on single-sex marriage in November, a debate broke out on the Reason Online and National ReviewOnline weblogs: Would Friedrich Hayek endorse or condemn gay marriage?

The appeal to the authority of a dead Austrian economist was odd. But the debate pointed up the interesting tensions in Hayek's work. On the one hand, Hayek was in many ways a conservative, appreciative of the collective knowledge embodied in long-standing institutions. He vehemently opposed efforts to remake society to conform to grand plans for social improvement. ...

But Hayek was also a classical liberal, appreciative of the importance, to both individuals and societies, of Millsian "experiments in living." He believed that social and economic institutions did and should evolve as human beings learned more about the world and each other. ...

The real Hayekian question is not "WWFD?" (What Would Friedrich Do?) but when and how social institutions should change, and when and how the law should reflect that evolution.

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posted by Eve at 1:24 AM | link

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