SOURCE: “The New Thought of F. A. Hayek: His Political and Legal Theory,” in Modern Age, Vol. 20, No. 1, Winter, 1976, pp. 54-61.

In the following essay, Shenfield reviews the connections between Hayek's legal and political thought, emphasizing his commitment to the rule of law as the primary defense of human liberty against political encroachments.

After Professor Hayek had published his Constitution of Liberty, he could perhaps have sat back to enjoy the fame and ease that what appeared to be the culminating work of a great career of scholarship had made his due. However, that was not in the character of the man. His mind has never ceased to probe the fundamentals of political and legal theory. Hence, despite its monumental character and stature, The Constitution of Liberty has proved to be not only not his last word on the immensely important and difficult problems of its subject, but...