Introduction

Summary

Contemporary democracies are experiencing decay due to economic crises, inequality, and the emergence of harsh capitalism, leading to democratic fragmentation and the rise of undemocratic liberalism and illiberal democracy. Ezrahi attributes this crisis to a shift in political epistemology from a dualistic cosmology of modernity to a postmodern monism, which blurs the boundaries between Nature/Culture. This book traces this shift from the monistic religious cosmology of the Middle Ages, based on a hierarchical “Chain of Being” with God at the top, to the secular, anti-hierarchical dualistic cosmology of the modern West. This shift created a dichotomy between Nature/Culture, world and humanity, providing space for human agency and forming the basis for democracy. Ezrahi argues that the dissolution of this dualistic cosmology has led to the breakdown of beliefs and perceptions that supported Western civic individualism, including perceptions of cause and effect in politics, public facts, expert competence, objectivity, and the visibility of political power.