Progressive Cannibalism: Progress, Democracy and Ethics
Available Online for Conference 'Ethics in Public Life' (2010)
| Abstract | The recent election of Barack Obama to the office of president of the United States evinces a reengagement with what is often termed ‘progressive’ politics. Such a politics promises to hold the potential for the betterment of society, and of us as individuals – be it through, inter alia, job creation, healthcare reform, or an end to the international financial crisis. An easy identification of progress as improvement, however, is bound to include several pitfalls, particularly when understood in a linear normative sense. Indeed, the twentieth century is littered with examples of organised violent and destructive human acts, often committed in the very name of ‘progress.’ Not surprisingly, then, theorists today are sceptical of a concept which seems to contain singular measures and unrepresentative adjudicators of progress. This paper will address some of the shortcomings associated with traditional accounts of progress, and will try to remedy these by providing an alternative model based upon Iris Marion Young’s ‘inclusive democracy.’ It is hoped that this will allow for a retaining of ‘progress’ without which judgement and hence accountability of political leadership seem nigh on impossible. While the larger question of establishing what is ‘good’ and what is ‘bad’ looms large in this context, the paper will also address questions surrounding human agency and the possibility of change. Throughout, the discussion will draw upon the work of perhaps the most ardent supporter of progress, John Dewey. Dewey’s obvious enthusiasm for the concept can be harnessed in order to rearticulate progress as a multiple, complex, and democratically devised notion, which is both ethically and politically valuable. Thus I propose to rehabilitate ‘progress’ and to re-establish it as a concept worthy of ethics, politics, and our lives more generally. | |||||||||
| Keywords | Progress pragmatism John Dewey Iris Marion Young democracy | |||||||||
| Categories | ||||||||||
| Options |
|
|||||||||
Download options| PhilPapers Archive |
Upload a copy of this paper Check publisher's policy on self-archival Papers currently archived: 5,672 |
| External links |
  Try with proxy. |
| Through your library | Configure |
Similar books and articlesDavid W. Marcell (1974). Progress and Pragmatism: James, Dewey, Beard, and the American Idea of Progress. Westport, Conn.,Greenwood Press.
Vladimir V. Mironov (2013). On Progress in Philosophy. Metaphilosophy 44 (1-2):10-14.
Clara Fischer (2012). Pragmatists, Deliberativists, and Democracy: The Quest for Inclusion. Journal of Speculative Philosophy 26 (3):497-515.
Leslie Sklair (1968). Gomte and the Idea of Progress. Inquiry 11 (1-4):321 – 331.
John McGowan (2012). Pragmatist Politics: Making the Case for Liberal Democracy. University of Minnesota Press.
John Dewey (1939). Creative Democracy: The Task Before Us. In John Dewey and the Promise of America, Progressive Education Booklet, No. 14, American Education Press.
Karen Momdjan (2013). Does Current Social Philosophy Develop Progressively? Metaphilosophy 44 (1-2):19-23.
Darrell P. Rowbottom (2010). What Scientific Progress Is Not: Against Bird's Epistemic View. International Studies in the Philosophy of Science 24 (3):241-255.
Ben Dixon (2005). Achieving Moral Progress Despite Moral Regress. Social Philosophy Today 21:157-172.
John M. Gowdy (1994). Progress and Environmental Sustainability. Environmental Ethics 16 (1):41-55.
Atocha Aliseda (2005). Lacunae, Empirical Progress and Semantic Tableaux. Poznan Studies in the Philosophy of the Sciences and the Humanities 83 (1):169-189.
Analytics
Monthly downloads |
Added to index2011-01-27Total downloads5 ( #160,283 of 549,067 )Recent downloads (6 months)0How can I increase my downloads? |
My notes
Discussion
