ABSTRACT
The stark contrast between a poetic-philosophic economy and modern economics presents a strong case for re-rooting economics in the human soul. Fundamental economic distinctions between the ancient classical worldview and modernity are presented in ten key points: Seat of Truth versus Truth as market calculus; Justice versus Luck and chance; Inner wealth versus Outer possessions; Being versus Having; Basic Needs versus Consumerism; Self-sufficiency versus Insatiability; Circulation versus Hoarding; Fruition versus Progress; Goodness from higher nature versus Egoism; Freedom as self-sufficiency versus Freedom of choice in markets. These contrasts show epistemologically that modernity cannot relate to the metaphysical dimension of ontology in which the oikos is constituted. A significant contrast is revealed between the living and the mechanistic. The need for wisdom and love is stressed and affirmed in the Encyclical of 2015 by Pope Francis: Care for our Common Home. Society needs a vision. Tri-formation of society will limit conflict between the spheres of culture, legal state, and economy, where imbalances and domination can lead to injustice and economic crises. To be effective, this tri-form arrangement essentially requires de-commodification of labour, land, and credit. There is a need for re-evaluation of the human being in association with renewed knowledge of life’s divine setting. This will confer existential value to morality and the oikos, which embodies holism, self-sufficiency, and justice. As a result of the evolution of consciousness, there is currently a need for an awakened awareness leading to a new cosmological paradigm.
