The Conservative Core of Hayek’s (Neo)liberal Doctrine : Evolution, Tradition, and Authority in the Market Society

This chapter aims to investigate the relationship between Friedrich von Hayek’s (neo)liberal theory and conservative thought. Analyzing the concepts used by Hayek to distinguish his liberal doctrine from conservatism in the essay Why I am not a Conservative and contrasting them with their broader use in his most important works – The Constitution of Liberty (1960), Law, Legislation and Liberty (1982) and The Fatal Conceit (1988) – this chapter seeks to highlight the internal tensions and contradictions in the liberal principles defended by Hayek. The main hypothesis is that it is possible to find a conservative core within Hayek’s thought that constitutes the fundamental ideological weapon employed in his “battle of ideas” against socialism. Conservative concepts, such as tradition, family, property, inequality, and religion, are therefore used to assert his market doctrine against the egalitarian and collectivist claim advanced by socialism. Following the antitheses drawn by Hayek to distinguish liberalism from conservatism, the chapter identifies the antirevolutionary conception of change, the authoritative role of tradition and religion, the disciplinary function of morals, the admission of the dictatorial exception, and the anti-democratic and anti-egalitarian stand as the conservative tools deployed by Hayek to think the conditions for the functioning and re- production of the market order.