Definition
This essay describes two completely different approaches which have been distinguished by Friedrich A. Hayek, the “constructivist” one and the “evolutionary” one, to the problem of how to develop institutions appropriate for the achievement of a desirable society. It does it by detailing Hayek’s analysis of the two approaches. First, the essay describes the “constructivist” contention that only institutions deliberately adopted by certain competent persons are likely to achieve a desirable society. Then, it presents the “evolutionary” viewpoint defended by Hayek, according to which a lot of beneficial institutions can be discovered only through spontaneous, undesigned growth.
Constructivism
Hayek uses the term “constructivist rationalists” to designate a large and diverse group of scholars which includes Bacon, Descartes, Hobbes, Leibniz, Spinoza, Voltaire, Rousseau, Bentham, Austin, Hegel, Marx, Comte, Saint-Simon, and the American Institutionalists. These scholars, Hayek...
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Servant, R. (2019). Constructivism, Cultural Evolution, and Spontaneous Order. In: Marciano, A., Ramello, G.B. (eds) Encyclopedia of Law and Economics. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7753-2_756
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