ABSTRACT
The main question in this chapter is, “how did we get here?” Its purpose is to analyze the logic behind some of the most influential political ideas in the history of modernity and their genesis. The focus is on Liberalism and how the logic of Liberalism, with its underlying metaphysical presuppositions, became a natural ally of modern capitalism. This alliance, even symbiosis, between Liberalism and capitalism, triumphed at the end of the Cold War, becoming virtually unrivaled. The chapter also explores topics of the crisis of political authority in early modernity, the concepts of nature, anxiety and modern rationality, social contract and public reason, as well as the themes of personal vs. impersonal authority, secular-religiosity and, most centrally, private property.
