We invite you at CADI, on Friday, 20th May 2011 at 1800 to take part in a discussion concerning the Hayekian theory of social norms evolution.

“Hayek’s theory of the emergence of systems of rules of behavior has attracted a fairly large amount of attention in the last two decades, and it has usually been dismissed as incompatible with modern evolutionary thinking and Hayek’s own methodological individualism. Most of the criticisms are focused on Hayek’s reliance on the notion of cultural group selection, which is the idea that social norms and institutions evolve because the confer advantages to groups that adopt them. The standard reading of Hayes has been that he appealed to group selection to explain the emergence of norms that are open to free-riding, that is to say the norms that individuals prefer not to follow, although they are beneficial at the group level.”

Luciano Andreozzi hypothesis is that Hayek used the group selection notion not for explaining the emergence of a certain behavioural type, like altruism from an equilibrium state, but rather the selection between more types of equilibrium. By using the theoretic framework of the game theory, Andreozzi tries to explore in what degree is the Hayekian group selection consonant with its methodological individualism.

Program

18:00 Radu Uszkai presents

18:20 Discussions

Text

Luciano Andreozzi, 2005, „Hayek Reads the Literature of the Emergence of Norms „Constitutional Political Economy 16(3), 227-247