부산대학교 도서관

The third chapter offers a detailed exposition and evaluation of Hayek’s theory of cultural evolution. Hayek postulated that the shift from small-group existence to life in an extended social order entailed a moral revolution. Specifically, the naturally evolved drives of solidarity and altruism had to be repressed for the sake of a new morality comprising the rules of the market, such as profit making and free competition, which are better suited to growth and to the coordination of the actions of many individuals with different goals and aims. Hayek explained this shift by reference to the notion of group selection, found in the works of Alexander M. Carr-Saunders and Vero C. Wynne-Edwards. But his interpretation of group selection was diametrically opposed to theirs. Instead of favoring limited reproduction, Hayek argued that the goal and driver of cultural group selection is demographic growth. The instrumental use of evolutionary concepts without much consideration for their provenance and original meaning was also apparent in Hayek’s disregard for Darwin’s views on cultural evolution. The chapter includes comparisons of Hayek’s theory with Darwin’s views and with later developments, which reveal the uneasy logical contortions his analysis underwent in order to arrive at preferred conclusions.