On Hayek and Bertalanffy
Towards a systems-theoretic approach to political economy
Hayek and Bertalanffy
Yesterday I learned that the ties between two of my intellectual heroes ran much deeper than I ever suspected.
Friedrich Hayek, an economist and political theorist, deeply influenced my thinking in my 20s because of his lucid writing on the role of markets and the rule of law in society.
Ludwig von Bertalanffy, a biologist and systems theorist, has emerged as a key inspirational figure in my 30s because of his pioneering work on general system theory.
While I was vaguely aware that there was some sort of relationship between the two, I had no idea what the nature of that relationship was until I read a paper by Paul Lewis, professor of political economy at King’s College London. Lewis draws on a combination of personal letters, historical archives, and a deep analysis of the two thinkers writings to clearly illustrate the direct influence of Bertalanffy on Hayek.1
The full paper is well worth reading if you’re interested in the intersection of systems, economics, and political theory. But here are three key facts which stood out for me.
Proof of Rapport
1 — Bertalanffy commented on an early version of The Sensory Order
Hayek is famous for his work in economics and political philosophy, but his scholarly career started in theoretical psychology. His first academic essay, Contributions to a Theory of How Conscious Develops, was published in 1920. The paper was an “attempt to create a basis for a general physiological explanation of consciousness phenomena.”2
After a long career focused on economic theory Hayek revisited the ideas from his youth and published The Sensory Order in 1952. In the book “he describes the mental mechanism that classifies perceptions that cannot be accounted for by physical laws.”3
Many of Hayek’s key insights in The Sensory Order didn’t appear in early drafts, but did appear in the final version after Bertalanffy (a brilliantly successful and innovative biologist) had read and commented on early manuscript versions.
For example, in the final version Hayek states that the mental order “does not arise from the parts being thrown together in a heap” but rather “involves certain elements plus certain relations obtaining between them.”
Lewis convincingly argues that this was added as a direct result of Hayek’s interactions with Bertalanffy.
2 — Bertalanffy invited Hayek to participate in the earliest General System Theory initiatives
In May 1954, Bertalanffy wrote a letter to Hayek inviting him “to join in forming ‘an International Society for the development, encouragement, and promotion of General System Theory.’ ”
In April 1955, Bertalanffy invited Hayek to attend the inaugural meeting of The Society for the Advancement of General Systems Theory (now known as the International Society for the Systems Sciences.)
Unfortunately, there isn’t any evidence that Hayek ever responded to the letters.
3 — Hayek starts directly referencing Bertalanffy’s ideas in the 1960s
In 1960 Hayek wrote a letter to Karl Popper describing his efforts to incorporate his developing understanding of complex phenomena into his existing ideas about economic theory. In reference to his attempts to restate his insights about the economy using “the conception of higher-level regularities”, he wrote:
“ I suspect it is really what Bertalanffy with his General Systems Theory was after and the conception itself was of course already implied in my “Degrees of Explanation.”
In a 1967 essay, Hayek applies one of Bertalanffy’s insights from biology to his own efforts to understand markets by combining the static and dynamic aspects of the market order. He directly quotes the following passage from Bertalanffy’s work.
“What are called structures are slow processes of long duration, functions are quick processes of short duration. If we say that a function such as the contraction of a muscle is performed by a structure, it means that a quick and short process wave is superimposed on a long-lasting and slowly running wave.”4
These are just two of the many examples included in Lewis’s essay.
So what?
A complete discussion of why this is so exciting for me will have to wait for a future post. But in short, I’m excited because reading this paper along with the various citations is helping me refine my vision for a systems-theoretic approach to political economy.
The fact that two of my favorite polymaths corresponded and influenced each other so directly gives me confidence that I’m on the right path with my research in this area.
Lewis, P. A. (2015). Systems, Structural Properties, and Levels of Organisation: The Influence of Ludwig Von Bertalanffy on the Work of F.A. Hayek. (SSRN Scholarly Paper 2609349). https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2609349
Contributions to a Theory of how Consciousness Develops | 11 | The Sen. (n.d.). Retrieved June 25, 2024, from https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781315734873-11/contributions-theory-consciousness-develops-viktor-vanberg
Hayek, F. A. (1999). The Sensory Order: An Inquiry into the Foundations of Theoretical Psychology. University of Chicago Press. https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/S/bo8930377.html
Bertalanffy, L. v. (1952). Problems of Life: An Evaluation of Modern Biological Thought. London: Watts & Co.