«Il principio liberale ha fallito»? Il liberalismo sui generis dell’economia sociale di mercato come umanesimo economico e le sue radici nella cultura protestante

Abstract

The cultural-historical roots of the social market economy are not to be found in the tradition of Catholic social thought or the Social Doctrine of the Church, which until the 1960s opposed (neo-)liberalism, criticizing its individualism and the principle of competition. Rather, they are located in the culture and philosophy of German Protestantism and cannot be understood without this religious reference. In a cultural milieu hostile to liberalism, a sui generis liberal economic-social model developed, around which academic resistance during the Third Reich could be organized. Today it can be considered an economic model consistent with the principles of the Social Doctrine of the Church.