<p>Inspired by the work of David Hume, Frank Knight and John Kay, this article argues that classical liberalism is usefully characterized, at least in part, as a philosophy of indirection. This is rooted in liberalism’s ontology of an open universe. In such a world reasoning and discussion must often be indirect and generate emergent outcomes. Indirection in the pursuit personal happiness is a theme that John Stuart Mill expands into his indirect utilitarianism. The market economy increases individual ability to attain personal goals, as well as “universal beneficence,” through world-wide indirect processes. Many virtues, valued in themselves, achieve social well-being beyond the intentions of individuals. Justice, in both the Humean and Spencerian senses, produces a social structure in which the possibilities of wealth creation are indirectly and obliquely created.</p>