Texas Tech University

The Idea of Progress

Syllabus | Introduction | Secondary Literature | Unit I | Unit II | Unit III | Unit IV

SECONDARY LITERATURE

The literature on progress is enormous. In addition to countless articles and books that touch on some aspect of the idea, there are literally dozens of thematic studies. The following list of references is not intended to be exhaustive. Rather, it provides an introduction to the secondary literature for instructors and students who wish to pursue the topic more deeply and focuses on works that influenced the discussions below. More specific recommendations are included for each unit.

  • Hannah Arendt, Between Past and Future (Cleveland: Meridian, 1963).
  • Carl Becker, Progress and Power (New York: Knopf, 1936).
  • J.B. Bury, The Idea of Progress: An Inquiry into Its Origin and Growth (London: Macmillan, 1921).
  • Margaret Meek Lange, “Progress”, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2011 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), <http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2011/entries/progress/>.
  • Christopher Lasch, The True and Only Heaven: Progress and Its Critics (New York: Norton, 1991).
  • Karl Löwith, Meaning in History: The Theological Implications of the Philosophy of History (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1957).
  • Robert Nisbet, History of the Idea of Progress (New York: Basic Books, 1980).
  • Sidney Pollard, The Idea of Progress: History and Society (New York: Pelican, 1971).
  • F. J. Teggart, The Idea of Progress: A Collection of Readings (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1949).
  • Charles Van Doren, The Idea of Progress (New York: Praeger, 1967).
  • Ronald Wright, Short History of Progress (New York: Carrol & Graf, 2005).

 

Syllabus | Introduction | Secondary Literature | Unit I | Unit II | Unit III | Unit IV