MARCO DANTAS DA ROCHA

This work aims to investigate the role of the market and the state in the social arrangements proposed by two evolutionary liberals: Herbert Spencer and Friedrich von Hayek. To this end, firstly, the main foundations of Herbert Spencer's evolutionism will be clarified, in order to establish the links between his evolutionary doctrine and the liberalism he advocated. Next, the same procedure will be adopted with regard to Friedrich von Hayek's thought. It is hoped, through these examinations, to understand how the evolutionary bases of the two authors' social theory influence their conceptions about the functions of the market and the state, as well as the relationships between such agents, individuals and society.