The Sensory Order And Other Writings On The Foundations Of Theoretical Psychology

In addition to his influential scholarship on economic and social theory, F. A. Hayek greatly impacted theoretical psychology with his book "The Sensory Order." Perhaps because he was a social scientist, Hayek s work in psychology has been mostly overlooked. Editor Viktor Vanberg frames "The Sensory Order" as an essential work necessary for any deeper understanding of Hayek s economic and social philosophy while adding on several important essays by Hayek that help illuminate the ideas of the book since its original publication in 1952. As volume 14 of the Collected Works of F. A. Hayek, "The Sensory Order "will definitively take its place as an integral and foundational part of Hayek s oeuvre."

The Nobel Prize-winning economist explores how the mind works—an early landmark in the field of cognitive science. The Sensory Order, first published in 1952, sets forth F. A. Hayek's classic theory of mind in which he describes the mental mechanism that classifies perceptions that cannot be accounted for by physical laws. Though Hayek is more commonly known as an icon in the field of economics, his genius was wide-ranging—and his contribution to theoretical psychology is of continuing significance to cognitive scientists as well as to economists interested in the interplay between psychology and market systems, and has been addressed in the work of Thomas Szasz, Gerald Edelman, and Joaquin Fuster. “A most encouraging example of a sustained attempt to bring together information, inference, and hypothesis in the several fields of biology, psychology, and philosophy.”—Quarterly Review of Biology

Cover -- Half Title -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Table of Contents -- Editorial Foreword -- The "Knowledge Problem" as the Integrating Theme of F.A. Hayek's Oeuvre: An Introduction to The Sensory Order -- The Sensory Order: An Inquiry Into the Foundations of Theoretical Psychology -- Preface -- Table of Contents -- Introduction -- I. The Nature of the Problem -- II. An Outline of the Theory -- III. The Nervous System as an Instrument of Classification -- IV. Sensation and Behavior -- V. The Structure of the Mental Order -- VI. Consciousness and Conceptual Thought -- VII. Confirmations and Verifications of the Theory -- VIII. Philosophical Consequences -- Other Writings on the Foundations of Theoretical Psychology -- Contributions to a Theory of How Consciousness Develops -- What Is Mind? -- Within Systems and About Systems: A Statement of Some Problems of a Theory of Communication -- The Sensory Order after 25 Years -- Name Index -- Subject Index

F. A. Hayek (1899–1992) was one of the leading voices in economic and social theory, but he also wrote on theoretical psychology, including in the landmark book The Sensory Order. Although The Sensory Order was not widely engaged with by either psychologists or social scientists at the time of publication, it is seen today as essential for fully understanding Hayek’s more well-known work. The latest addition to the University of Chicago Press’s Collected Works of F. A. Hayek series, The Sensory Order and Other Writings on the Foundations of Theoretical Psychology pairs the book, originally published in 1952, with additional essays related to The Sensory Order’s key themes, including a student paper from 1920 in which Hayek outlined the basic ideas he fully developed in the 1952 book. Rounding out the volume is an insightful introduction by editor Viktor Vanberg that sketches out the central problems Hayek was grappling with when he wrote The Sensory Order and the influential role this early thinking on theoretical psychology would play over the next six decades of his career. The book also features ample footnotes and citations for further reading, making this an essential contribution to the series.