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The proposal to examine the paradigm of interest from the political angle is not new. Indeed, many authors agree on the idea that, before it was mobilized by economic science, it was mobilized to perfect the art of governance. It is still, however, an important issue, but one that remains in the shadows because it has not been studied sufficiently. On what precise occasion and on the basis of what particular political questions was the notion of interest used to assert that “interest governs the world”? How are we to explain that political theories prior to the Renaissance did not make use of the notion that was apparently so promising; namely, the idea of ensuring a certain uniformity and predictability where human behavior is concerned?