This study examines three important conceptions of social and human progress, evaluates them critically, and proposes an alternative conception of a rather different type. The first three conceptions are respectively found in, or at least based on, Condorcet’s theory of the historical progress of the sciences and the arts; Adam Smith’s conception of the progressive increase of national wealth; and Karl Marx’s ideal of the communist society. Despite their fundamental differences, these three theories have several common elements. Each one proposes a social project aimed at achieving an ideal society; each ultimately seeks the improvement of the human condition; each focuses however on social rather than human progress, so that its conception of the latter (and of humanness) must be constructed from a set of associated ideas about human nature, life, needs, worth, potential, or fulfilment, and about relations among these.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/245389 |
| Creators | Neesham, Cristina |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
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