Introduction

Abstract

Modernity, the destructive climax of which we are experiencing today, has deep roots in history. This can be observed particularly in the fields of political economy, anthropology, psychology, and philosophy. Starting in the eighth century BCE, the growing division of labor led to the spread of new forms of exchange, built on money and private property, particularly in the Ancient Near East and Greece, but also throughout Asia. Politically this new economy merged with imperial structures and behaviors. Linked to this we can see a loss of solidarity in the affected societies as well as a shift in human self-understanding and praxis toward greed and egocentrism. This type of civilization is taken up again in intensified forms in western modernity. The capitalist market has become more and more globalized, served by more and more violent global empires. Individualism becomes the mark of this period.