Revising the liberal tradition? Re-assessing Hayek's liberalism through his engagement with the classical world

While recognized as a major 20th century liberal thinker, Hayek's place in the liberal tradition remains indeterminate. This is partially due to his conception of freedom, which Hayek's liberal-minded commentators deemed unable to guarantee a liberal order. By analyzing Hayek's engagement with the classical world, I contend that he departs from a well-ingrained liberal view as he argues that individual liberty and liberalism are not a modern phenomenon but find their origins in ancient Greece and Rome. I demonstrate that, for Hayek, reconnecting with the classical exposition of freedom underlines that it is indissociably tied to the “true”/substantive conception of law as nomos originating in ancient Greece. I show that in Hayek's eyes revisiting Antiquity reveals that from its inception individual freedom was indifferent to the form of government, i.e., who lays down the law. I maintain that, by relying on the claim that political participation is neither necessary nor sufficient for individual freedom, Hayek's theory of liberty within the law ultimately comes close to the Roman conception of freedom developed by Cicero and Livy. I thereby propose that it is because his conception of freedom draws on a pre-liberal one that Hayek's critics could question its liberal credentials.