The Idea of Historical Progress and Its Assumptions
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4496633 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Nathan Rotenstreich (corresponding author) |
| Year | 1971 |
| Volume | 10 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 197 |
| Publication date | 1971-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | History and Theory (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0018-2656 • E-ISSN: 1468-2303 |
| Publisher | JSTOR (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.2307/2504292 |
| OpenAlex | W2334286364 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 5 |
Our concern is with the idea of as applied to the historical process. In common usage, the term progress signifies an improvement or an advance in a desirable direction. As the ruling idea or as a doctrine concerning the character of history, implies a cumulative advance, throughout all regions of history, toward an all-encompassing encounter with a universal norm and its realization. This all-encompassing encounter ought to be ascribed an absolute or independent status in its capacity as the key to the direction and meaning of the historical process. This is taken for granted by all proponents of the idea of progress, much as they may disagree about the content of the norm encountered. Our task is to analyze the theoretical assumptions upon which the idea of historical is based a task which cannot be accomplished simply by describing the historical background or spiritual climate in which this idea found widespread acceptance. For our purposes it is rather irrelevant that this idea came into currency in the nineteenth century, when confidence in the march of civilization reached an unprecedented peak, and when men sought theoretical justification for their feeling that they had come a long way toward achieving the goal of human history. The question to be answered is not under what circumstances the idea can be or has been propagated, but upon what theoretical assumptions the idea is based. To answer this question, one must explore the conceptual contexts relevant to the doctrine of progress, rather than the historical reasons for its popular appeal
Calculus (dental) · Epistemology · American Constitutional Law and Politics · History · Philosophy · Religion and Society Interactions
| Unique citing works | 5 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,09 |
| Citation span | 1972 - 2025 (54) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 5 |