Hayek’s theory of social evolution in the light of Darwin’s Descent of Man

Abstract

This article proposes to reassess Hayek’s theory of cultural evolution in the light of Darwin’s Descent of Man. It is shown that Hayek and Darwin refers to the same theory of human nature which is borrowed from the founding fathers of political economy, Hume and Smith. Their respective conceptions of order, as well as the mechanisms and the product of evolution are then the consequence of this theory of human nature.Cultural evolution, Biological evolution, Darwin, Hayek