The Road to Servomechanisms: The Influence of Cybernetics on Hayek from The Sensory Order to the Social Order

Gabriel Oliva

No 2015-11, Center for the History of Political Economy Working Paper Series from Center for the History of Political Economy

Abstract: This paper explores the ways in which c ybernetics influenced the works of F. A. Hayek from the late 1940s onwar d. It shows that the concept of negative feedback, borrowed from cybernetics, was central to Hayek’s attempt of giving an explanation of the principle to the emergence of human purposive behavior. Next, the paper discusses Ha yek’s later uses of cybernetic ideas in his works on the spontaneous formation of social orders. Finally, Hayek’s view on the appropriate scope of the use of cybernetics is considered.

Keywords: Cybernetics; F. A. Hayek; Norbert Wien er; Garrett Hardin; Ludwig von Bertalanffy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: B25 B31 C60 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 41
Date: 2015
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-his and nep-hpe
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