Progress : Fact or Illusion?

by Leo Marx

Progress, perhaps the fundamental secular belief of modern Western society, has come under heavy fire recently because, after three centuries, the advances in science and technology seem increasingly to bring problems in their alienation, environmental degradation, the threat of nuclear destruction. The idea of progress is also brought into question by postmodern critique, attacking the notion of science as truth. Yet no other meaningful organization of humankind's sense of time looms on the horizon. Fact or Illusion? attempts to reassess the meaning and prospects of the idea of progress. Looking toward the millennium, the volume seeks to evaluate the idea's worth both in theory - is it intellectually viable and defensible today? - and practice - even if theoretically defensible, is the idea undermined in actual life? Approaching these questions from the perspectives of science, anthropology, economics, religion, political philosophy, feminism, medicine, environmental studies, and the Third World, the contributors, all distinguished scholars, provide a unique and critical balance.

Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

A specialist in the relationship between technology and culture in 19th and 20th century America, Leo Marx was Professor of the History and Philosophy of Science Emeritus at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Marx graduated from Harvard University with a BA in history and literature in 1941 and a PhD in the history of American civilization in 1950. Prior to joining the faculty of MIT in 1976, Marx taught at the University of Minnesota and at Amherst College.