Hayek’s epistemology denied others the holism his own vision required

Evidence

Christian Arnsperger has captured the double-truth doctrine nicely, by insisting that Hayek had denied to others the very thing that gave his own life meaning: the imprimatur to theorize about “society” as a whole, to personally claim to understand the meaning and purpose of human evolution, and the capacity to impose his vision upon them through a political project verging upon totalitarianism. — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 242

Categorization

• DEEPTHINKING: The self-contradiction at the heart of Hayek’s thought — denying the possibility of holistic social knowledge while himself claiming precisely that — is a genuinely paradigm-shifting critique worth sitting with.
• XREF: Echoes of ‘epistemic humility’ arguments in libertarian thought and the tension with the ‘thought collective’s’ insistence on knowing what’s best — parallels the Leninist vanguard critique. — connects to: Hayek framed individual rational self-direction as dangerous civilizational hubris — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 227; Hayek argued contextual individual knowledge cannot be statistically aggregated — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market: Human Rights…, 211; Hayek’s market argument rests on an epistemology of dispersed tacit knowledge — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 72 (+7 more)

Broader Connections

• Hayek’s market argument rests on an epistemology of dispersed tacit knowledge #qualifies (0.80) — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 72
• Hayek’s knowledge schema treats information as a disembodied good #complicates (0.80) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 2102
• Hayek argued contextual individual knowledge cannot be statistically aggregated #qualifies (0.75) — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market, 211
• Hayek saw society as a spontaneous order, not a dutiful organization #complicates (0.75) — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market, 146
• Hayek grounded free-market economics in a theory of human ignorance #qualifies (0.75) — Angus Burgin, The Great Persuasion, 278
• Hayek opposed planning because humans face constitutional ignorance #qualifies (0.72)
• Hayek’s academy aimed to build shared belief rather than only disseminate finished scholarship #qualifies (0.72) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 85