Law, Legislation and Liberty, Volume 1: Rules and Order

Law, Legislation and Liberty, Volume 1: Rules and Order
by F. A. Hayek

Law, Legislation and Liberty, Volume 1: Rules and Order
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Book Summary Information

Author: F. A. Hayek
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1978-02-15
ISBN: 0226320863
Number of pages: 191
Publisher: University Of Chicago Press

Book Reviews of Law, Legislation and Liberty, Volume 1: Rules and Order

Book Review: Worthwhile sequel to The Constitution of Liberty
Summary: 4 Stars

The thesis of volume 1 of Law, Legislation, and Liberty is that "a condition of liberty in which all are allowed to use their knowledge for their purposes, restrained only by rules of just conduct of universal application, is likely to produce for them the best conditions for achieving their aims", and that "such a system is likely to be achieved and maintained only if all authority, including that of the majority of the people, is limited in the exercise of coercive power by general principles to which the community has committed itself" (p. 55). "[W]hat the spontaneous order of society provides for us is more important for everyone, and therefore for the general welfare, than most of the particular services which the organization of government can provide, excepting only the security provided by the enforcement of the rules of just conduct" (pp. 132-133). Therefore, "law is...to consist of abstract rules which make possible the formation of a spontaneous order by the free action of individuals through limiting the range of their actions" (i.e., through preventing coercion), and it is not to be "the instrument of arrangement or organization by which the individual is made to serve concrete purposes" (p. 71).

Law, Legislation, and Liberty was intended as a sequel to The Constitution of Liberty, in that Hayek wrote it to "fill in the gaps" that he felt existed in his argument in that earlier work. He wrote and published Law, Legislation, and Liberty on and off over a time-span of approximately 15 years (early-mid 1960 to mid-late 1970s), which were in part interrupted by ill health. Hayek admits that the result is at times repetitive and lacking in organization. The reason why he did not go through the effort of redoing the entire work upon completion is because he thought he might at that rate never finish it (he was 80 years old by the time volume 3 was published).

There are still plenty of great insights, which Hayek argues persuasively and in doing so manages to portray as common sense. There are also plenty of flashes of that true rhetorical brilliance characteristic of Hayek that can make his writings such a feast to the ear and mind. On the downside, however, these rhetorical gems are hidden in a large volume of pages that at times do indeed seem tedious, repetitive, and unorganized, unlike with The Constitution of Liberty, where they literally seem to jump off the page at you. All in all, read The Constitution of Liberty first, as Hayek himself suggests. And if you're not up for reading the approximately 500 pages that make up the complete Law, Legislation, and Liberty, two chapters (30 pages total) in the book The Essence of Hayek make for a comprehensive summary exposition of the ideas in the entire trilogy ("Principles of a Liberal Social Order", ch. 20 in The Essence of Hayek, covers vols. 1-2, and "Whither Democracy?", ch. 19, covers vol. 3).

Summary of Law, Legislation and Liberty, Volume 1: Rules and Order

This volume represents the first section of F. A. Hayek's comprehensive three-part study of the relations between law and liberty. Rules and Order constructs the framework necessary for a critical analysis of prevailing theories of justice and of the conditions which a constitution securing personal liberty would have to satisfy.

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