Anti-rationalist epistemology links respect for tradition with market advocacy

Evidence

Both Oakeshott and Polanyi were led, via their focus on knowledge that escaped the confi nes of the rational, to manifest a simultaneous respect for social traditions and the economic marketplace. Polanyi’s critique of rationalism inspired him to valorize both the tacit knowledge embodied in networks of social tradition and the spontaneous orders that emerged out of largescale market interactions. Oakeshott’s skepticism about abstract problem solving drove him to commend “traditional” forms of knowledge and to assail government interventions that were “consciously planned and deliberately executed.” The modern sensibility, they feared, was excessively sanguine about its capacity to construct entirely new social orders based on rational schemes. In contrast, they saw a hidden and often unarticulated wisdom in traditional beliefs and practices and an organic logic in the apparently chaotic exchanges that were characteristic of market societies. — Angus Burgin, The Great Persuasion, 284

Categorization

• XREF: This shared Oakeshott-Polanyi move — that irrationalist/non-rational knowledge justifies both tradition and markets — is the epistemological bridge to Hayek’s dispersed-knowledge argument in ‘The Use of Knowledge in Society’ and to the broader Mont Pèlerin credo. — connects to: Hayek’s market argument rests on an epistemology of dispersed tacit knowledge — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 72; Market ideology’s appeal rests on a metaphysical equation of markets with human nature itself — Fredric Jameson, Postmodernism, or, The Cultural Logic…, 587; Neoliberal epistemology drew on Poincaré’s conventionalism to attack socialist rationalism — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 62 (+5 more)
• DEEPTHINKING: The counterintuitive pairing — that a deep skepticism about reason’s capacity underwrites rather than undermines a commitment to spontaneous market order — is a subtly argued, paradigm-shifting claim about how two major anti-rationalists converged on market advocacy.

Broader Connections

• Hayek’s market argument rests on an epistemology of dispersed tacit knowledge #expands (0.82) — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 72
• Neoliberal epistemology drew on Poincaré’s conventionalism to attack socialist rationalism #corroborates (0.80) — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 62
• Persuasion within a moral tradition depends on shared background assumptions #expands (0.78) — Saba Mahmood, Politics of Piety, 1198
• Market ideology’s appeal rests on a metaphysical equation of markets with human nature itself #complicates (0.75) — Fredric Jameson, Postmodernism, or, The Cultural Logic…, 587
• Classical social theory defined modernity by the application of scientific rationality over tradition #contradicts (0.75) — Alex Callinicos, Against Postmodernism, 151
• Neoliberals restrict freedom to negative freedom to shield market epistemology from scrutiny #complicates (0.72) — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 169
• Market ideology functions to repress freedom rather than secure it #complicates (0.70) — Fredric Jameson, Postmodernism, or, The Cultural Logic…, 600