John Gray
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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 3
Average rating: 5.0 of 5
The best recreation of Hayek's thought available 5 out of 5 stars.
12 of 13 people found this review helpful.
Friedrich von Hayek has had perhaps the most profound impact of any political theorist in the last half-century. John Gray's book is a superb analysis of his ideas. Where other studies can be confusing or convoluted, Gray's always maintains its ability to lucidly recreate Hayek's arguments from their intellectual roots upwards. Understanding the intellectual foundations of Hayek's work, can be a minefield of inaccessible terms and confusing statements. Thanks to John Gray, however, these matters are clearly and intelligently explained. The result is that the reader is provided with a rich insight into how Hayek's political economy functions. More than just a critique of socialism, Hayek's thought is also a profound intellectual statement combining the epistemological insights of Hume with Kant's categorical imperative. An understanding of its philosophical basis allows a fertile gaze into the prism that is Hayek's thought. Only Gray explains these aspects of his writngs clearly.
"Hayek on Liberty" is, moreover, refreshingly objective, despite the controversy which Hayek's ideas generate. Gray seeks to explain rather than to refute or praise. The reader can therefore take the insights Gray offers in a number of directions. Although Gray clearly admires Hayek, he does not feel the need to indulge in the monotonous hero-worship to which we have become accustomed. There is much to be found here for Hayek's critics too. Especially since it is doubtful that Hayek's use of Hume does not undermine many of his more positive political statements.
Gray's work is thus an invaluable guide to one of the Twentieth Century's intellectual icons. One only has to observe the saint-like worship Hayek has received in recent months, surrounding the centenery of his birth, to appreciate that his legacy is an ongoing phenomenon of global proportions. Academic, student, and interested observer will find Gray's study immensely helpful as a platform for approaching more general disussions of Hayek's ideas, of which many fine examples now exist. Anyone attempting a detailed appreciation of Hayek should thus keep Gray beside them at all times.
Editorial Review:
Hayek on Liberty is a concise yet exhaustive and provocative study of this classic liberal philosopher. It examines the structure and impact of Hayek's system of ideas and locates his position within Western philosophy. Not available since the 1980s, this updated 3rd edition contains a a substantial new chapter in which Gray assesses how far the historical development of the last ten years can be deployed in a critique of Hayek's thought. Gray's reassessment is not only a provoking study of a classical philosopher; it is also a timely contribution to the debate over the future of conservatism.
