Summary of F. A. Hayek's The Fatal Conceit

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Book Preview:

#1 The existence of an order of human activities that transcends the vision of an ordering mind is a miracle. It is the result of the rules of human conduct that evolved over time. These rules are taught and imitated rather than instinctive.

#2 Morals are learned traditions that contrast with impulsive and unreflective conduct and with rational concern with specific results. They tell us how to choose among inborn instinctual drives.

#3 The constraints of the small group are hated, but they are also necessary. They enable us to survive and thrive in an environment that we cannot understand. We must obey the rules of conduct that we never made, and which we have never understood, because we need them to fit into this great framework of institutions and traditions.

#4 The concept of order is difficult to understand and explain. We must distinguish two different but related conceptions of order. Order may be used to describe the results of a mental activity of arranging or classifying objects or events in various aspects according to our sense perception, or as the particular physical arrangements that objects or events possess or which are attributed to them at a certain time.

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Release date

Ebook: 11 May 2022