A Critical Study On Hayek’s Idea Of Spontaneous Order

F.A.Hayek is a representative of Western neoliberalism,whose idea of spontaneous order,has important academic and practical significance.The idea of spontaneous order is both a solution he proposed for the dilemma of traditional metaphysics and bearing the ideology of neoliberalism in a new historical period.In light of its critiques to traditional rational metaphysics and to social realities like planned rationality and scientism,idea of spontaneous order does possess a profound ideological value.However,in light of using one form of intellectual thinking against another and confusing the way of existence between men and animals and between social development and social evolution,idea of spontaneous order features the roughness of representative thinking and the falseness of ideology.In that sense,it is unwise either to chase after hail Hayek’s idea of spontaneous order uncritically or devalue it unreflectively.Therefore,basing on the perspective of Marx’s historical materialism,it is of great significance to study the theoretical premise,theoretical connotation and particular circumstances of time of Hayek’s idea of spontaneous order,so as to reveal its spiritual essence,discover its theoretical dilemma and find a theoretical solution.The theoretical premise of Hayek’s idea of spontaneous order includes methodological individualism and subjectivist epistemology.Although Hayek criticized constructivist rationalism and distinguished between real and pseudo individualism,what he called real individualism does not represent real man and his historical development,and what he perceived about man is still a one-sided view of human nature.His subjectivist epistemology is a construct of prior theory based on the findings of psychology and other empirical sciences and is thus a non-historical,subjective speculation.The theoretical connotation of Hayek’s idea of spontaneous order was built upon the evolution of critical logic and the self-consistency of the theoretical system.He tried to demarcate human rationality by criticizing constructivist rationalism and found a third phenomenon in the human society where “Man’s actions,not man’s ends”.With this Hayek divided internal and external order and rules which laid foundation for the ideological system of the idea of spontaneous order.Unfortunately,the standpoint of dualism made it hard for Hayek’s idea of spontaneous order to achieve theoretical and logical self-consistency.To solve the complex entanglement between the order of group actions and the rules of individual actions,he introduced the concept of cultural evolution in an attempt to dilute and ease the inherent contradictions of his social theory.That is why Hayek’s theory has traces of constructivism in itself although he himself was strongly against constructivism.Hayek’s idea of spontaneous order is an intensive mastery of the circumstances of its own time.Practically,it is a reflection on both the Soviet model and its textbook philosophy and a particular stage of capitalism in the Western world.Theoretically,it is a logical extension of the“Century debate” between Hayek and Keynes,as well as an ideological result of the trend against scientism.Spiritually,it is still a contemporary manifestation of the traditional thinking of idea of spontaneous order,a self-correction of Western rationalism,and a theoretical representation of capital logic and ideology in a new historical period.There are many theoretical dilemmas inherent to Hayek’s idea of spontaneous order itself and many misunderstandings in Hayek’s critiques to socialism and Marx’s historical materialism.These theoretical dilemmas and misunderstandings arise from the essential differences between Hayek and Marx such as intellectual thinking and dialectical thinking and explaining the world and changing the world.From the perspective of Marx’s historical materialism,in terms of theoretical premise,Hayek’s subjectivist epistemology has yet to break away from the subject-object binary opposition way of thinking,namely,it still belongs to the sequence of traditional metaphysics.Methodological individualism,in essence,is still an abstract theory of human nature.In terms of theoretical connotation,Hayek’s idea of spontaneous order ignores the fundamental difference the way of existence between men and animals and confuses the dialectical relationship between social development and social evolution.In terms of theoretical interest,while he criticized constructivist rationalism and scientism,Hayek was still trying to provide a scientized map of worldview for explaining the world and was still a non-critical positivist towards the real world created by capital logic.In a word,Hayek’s idea of spontaneous order is the road to serfdom itself and only Marx’s historical materialism is the true road to freedom.Therefore,to truly realize the free,full development of all individuals and the future liberation of the human society,it is important to get out of the theoretical dilemma of Hayek’s idea of spontaneous order and adhere to Marx’s historical materialism.From the standpoint of Marx’s historical materialism,Hayek’s idea of spontaneous order has to surmount the binary opposition between “finite rationality” and “infinite rationality” in its theoretical starting point,transform from “subjectivist” to “practical-perspective” in epistemology,and change from “real individualism” to agreeing that “the essence of man is the ensemble of the social relations” in methodology.Only in this way can Hayek’s idea of spontaneous order get out of non-critical positivism and truly understand real man and his historical development.