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Published/Copyright: April 18, 2016
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Deutsche Zeitschrift für Philosophie
From the journal Deutsche Zeitschrift für Philosophie Volume 64 Issue 2

Abstract

This paper offers a general approach to the concept of progress, illustrating it by two examples. The first focuses on the least controversial instance of progress, in the domain of the natural sciences. The second considers the notion of ethical progress, a notion viewed as fundamental to the understanding of social progress. At the heart of my approach is a distinction between the ambitious idea of teleological progress, and a more modest concept of pragmatic progress. The last two sections turn to the concept of social progress, identifying the spread of capacities for an autonomously chosen valuable life as the key. Standard economic measures of progress are often poor guides to social progress in my sense, and there are serious questions about whether contemporary socio-economic institutions are antipathetic to social progress.

Keywords: scientific progress; ethical progress; social progress; pragmatism; teleology

Aus dem Englischen von Andreas Fliedner

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Published Online: 2016-4-18
Published in Print: 2016-4-1

© 2016 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

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https://doi.org/10.1515/dzph-2016-0013
Keywords for this article
scientific progress; ethical progress; social progress; pragmatism; teleology

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Research Article
  3. Über den Fortschritt
  4. Research Article
  5. Fragilität der Macht
  6. Research Article
  7. Quid mihi?
  8. Research Article
  9. Schwerpunkt: Verantwortung – ein umkämpfter Begriff
  10. Research Article
  11. Verantwortung: Existenzial oder Versatzstück neoliberaler Apologetik?
  12. Research Article
  13. Tugend, Recht und Moral: Tendenzen der Verantwortungszuschreibung
  14. Research Article
  15. Rechtswissenschaft, Geschichte und die institutionelle Natur des Rechts
  16. Research Article
  17. Drei Gefahren philosophischer Begriffsanalysen von Verantwortung
  18. Essay
  19. Elvis Ain’t Dead Until We Say So
  20. Buchkritik
  21. Distanz und Urteil: Das Paradox der Norm
  22. Buchkritik
  23. Form der Rechte als Form des Rechts?
  24. Buchkritik
  25. Der Ort der Moral im aufgeklärten Liberalismus
  26. Buchkritik
  27. Vom Nutzen der philosophischen Anthropologie für die Psychiatrie
  28. Buchkritik
  29. Nachruf auf Hilary Putnam
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