PDA

View Full Version : A Brief History of the Idea of Progress



Mister D
09-13-2012, 01:22 PM
The idea of progress seems one of theoretical presuppositions of modernity. One can even regard it, not without reason, as the real “religion of Western civilization.” Historically,this idea was formulated earlier than it is generally thought ,around 1680, during the quarrel of Ancients and the Moderns, in which Terras son, Charles Perrault , the Abbe of Saint- Pierre,and Fontenelle participated. It was then developed on the initiative of a second generation, including principally Turgot ,Condorcet , and Louis Sebastien Mercier.

Progress can be defined as a cumula tive process in whichthe most recent stage is always considered preferable and better , i.e., qualitatively superior, to what preceded it. This definition contains a descriptive element (change takes placein a given direction) and an axiological element (this progression is interpreted as an improvement). Thus it refer s tochange that is oriented (toward the best) , necessary (one does not stop progress) , and irreversible (no overall return tothe past is possible) . Improvement being inescapable, it follows that tomorrow will be always better than today.

Snip


The theory of progre s s seculariz es this linear conception of history, from which all modern historicisms arise. The major difference is that the here af t e r is reconceived as the future, and happiness replaces salvation. Indeed, in Christianity,progress remains more eschatological than historical in the proper sense. Man must seek salvation here below, but with a view to the other world. For he has no control over the divine. Christianity also condemns insatiable desire and, like Stoicism, holds that moral wisdom lies more in the limitation than the multiplication of desires. Only the millennialist cur -rent in Christianity, inspired by the Apocalypse , envisages a terrestrial reign of a thousand years preceding the Last Judgment . Secularizing Augustine’s vision, millennialism inspired Joachim of Flora and his spiritual descendants . But the theoryof progress needed additional elements to arrive at its modern form. These elements first appeared in the Renaissance
and came to fruition in the seventeenth century.


http://www.alaindebenoist.com/pdf/history_of_the_idea_of_progress.pdf

Mister D
09-13-2012, 03:08 PM
Sorry for the formatting. It's another fairly short essay.