The method appropriate to the historical and conceptual investigation of Hayek's ideas is implicit in his own writings on the methodology of disciplines that study complex phenomena. The phenomena of Hayek's career are complex phenomena requiring a method appropriate to this complexity.

The method appropriate to the historical and conceptual investigation of Hayek’s ideas is implicit in his own writings on the methodology of disciplines that study complex phenomena. The phenomena of Hayek’s career are complex phenomena requiring a method appropriate to this complexity.

Hayek maintains that models of complexity must consider two closely interrelated factors: the large number of variables and the connections among them. These two conditions, which define complex phenomena, exhibit a different logical dimension. The former (the 'large number of variables')...