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Did Hayek Commit the Naturalistic Fallacy?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 June 2009

Erik Angner
Erik Angner
Affiliation:
Department of History and Philosophy of Science and Department of Economics, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh PA 15260. E-mail: ejast4@pitt.edu
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Extract

In promoting spontaneous orders—orders that evolve in a process of cultural evolution—as “efficient,” “beneficial,” and “advantageous,” Friedrich A. Hayek (1899–1992) has often been attributed the belief that there is something desirable about them. For this reason, he has been accused of committing the naturalistic fallacy, that is, of trying to derive an “ought” from an “is.” It appears that Hayek was quite aware of the charge, and vigorously disputed it: “I have no intention to commit what is often called the genetic or naturalistic fallacy” (1988, p. 27).

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Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the History of Economic Thought , Volume 26 , Issue 3 , September 2004 , pp. 349 - 361
Copyright
Copyright © The History of Economics Society 2004

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