第2462期: 读懂哈耶克,从这四本书开始,都是经典
哈耶克(F. A. Hayek, 1899-1992)是20世纪最重要的古典自由主义思想家之一,1974年获诺贝尔经济学奖。他的思想深刻塑造了现代经济学、政治哲学、新制度经济学,甚至影响了全球的反极权浪潮和市场化改革。
如果你是哈耶克的初读者,可以按照下面的顺序阅读他的四部代表作。
初读者入门:《通往奴役之路》(The Road to Serfdom,1944)
这是哈耶克最广为人知的著作,也是大多数人的入门书。
“The system of private property is the most important guarantee of freedom, not only for those who own property, but scarcely less for those who do not.”
“私有财产制度是最重要的自由保障,不仅对拥有财产的人如此,对那些一无所有的人几乎同样重要。”
这本书影响了撒切尔、里根等领导人,推动了20世纪80年代的自由市场复兴(里根-撒切尔革命)。
前不久刚发现殷海光先生也翻译过这本书,台译《到奴役之路》(已絕版)。
核心思想精华:《个人主义与经济秩序》(Individualism and Economic Order,1948)
这是一本论文集,其中最耀眼的是1945年的《社会中的知识之利用》。这篇短文只有十几页,却被公认为哈耶克最伟大的单篇贡献,解释了价格机制如何解决“知识分散”的难题。
“The marvel is that in a case like that of a scarcity of one raw material, without an order being issued, without more than perhaps a handful of people knowing the cause, tens of thousands of people whose identity could not be ascertained by months of investigation, are made to use the material or its products more sparingly; that is, they move in the right direction.”
自由的正面蓝图:《自由秩序原理》(The Constitution of Liberty,1960)
这是哈耶克最系统的正面论述,讲一个自由社会应该是什么样子,重点讨论法治、法律面前的平等,以及“规则平等”与“结果平等”的冲突。
“From the fact that people are very different it follows that, if we treat them equally, the result must be inequality in their actual position, and that the only way to place them in an equal position would be to treat them differently. Equality before the law and material equality are therefore not only different but are in conflict with each other; and we can achieve either one or the other, but not both at the same time.”
这是对平等主义最深刻的批判,至今被广泛引用。
晚年思想集大成:《法律、立法与自由》(Law, Legislation and Liberty,1973–1979,三卷本)
Vol. 1: Rules and Order
Vol. 2: The Mirage of Social Justice
Vol. 3: The Political Order of a Free People
这是哈耶克最成熟、最深刻的总结,分三卷探讨自发秩序、社会正义的幻象,以及自由社会政治架构。
“Civilization rests on the fact that we all benefit from knowledge which we do not possess.”
“世界上再没有人如同哈耶克一般,对铁幕里的知识分子产生如此庞大的影响。”
——米尔顿·弗里德曼(Milton Friedman), “货币主义”创始人,1976年诺贝尔经济学奖得主



