The analogies between economic competition and natural selection in free-market thinking

Les analogies entre concurrence économique et sélection naturelle dans les pensées libérales

Philippe Légé

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Abstract: The purpose of this chapter is to explain how the evolutionary philosophies of Herbert Spencer (1820–1903) and Friedrich A. Hayek (1899–1992) justify economic competition. By studying the analogies between biology and society, as well as Hayek's use of the concept of "selection", we will show that his thinking contains echoes of Spencer's "social Darwinism". This will lead us to question the plight of the losers in the "market order" under Hayekian liberalism.

Keywords: Spencer; Hayek; Selection; Evolutionism; competition; sélection; évolutionnisme; concurrence (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-com and nep-hpe
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Published in Julien Gargani; Annick Jacq. Choisir ou être choisi – Approches critiques de la sélection, MSH Paris-Saclay Éditions, Université Paris-Saclay, pp.77-97, 2025, Actes, 978-2-9597054-1-0. ⟨10.52983/CMJJ8712⟩

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05414504

DOI: 10.52983/CMJJ8712

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