ABSTRACT
This chapter is dedicated to the exploration of alternatives. It begins with advocating the need for thinking outside the Liberal-capitalist framework and the metaphysical paradigms implicit in or inherent to it. The claim is advanced that a different metaphysics is needed, the one which can cope with freedom as the ontic foundations of our existence. Upon such metaphysics, a different kind of society can be conceptualized, and a different kind of inter-human relationships that would change the logic of capitalism. In order for that to happen, the concept of society as a marketplace, and business logic as the basis of social relations, needs to be changed.
The chapter continues with a set of principles and a conceptual outline of concrete policies that, both short- and long-term, could be implemented in order to open up the space for more freedom and more democracy, beyond the capitalist ideological blackmails, including those ideological narratives that present themselves as “alternatives.” Special attention is paid to reimagining the role of those agents and institutions that have traditionally been informing the “public mind,” often in a decisive way, such as universities (academic research and science) and the media (including both traditional mainstream media and social media).
