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Is Progress Real? - by Roger’s Bacon - Secretorum

secretorum.life · 2,551 words · saved by 1 readers

an essay from The Lessons of History by the Durants + commentary and critique

I couldn't find the essay “Is Progress Real?” by the historians Will and Ariel Durant (The Lessons of History, 1968) anywhere on the internet so here I am now, posting it on the internet. I think it's a classic—short but filled with provoking ideas and beautiful prose and I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that no one writes like this anymore. Afterwards, I offer some commentary on the essay and make a devastating criticism of the idea of progress (a death blow, really). Enjoy. Against this panorama of nations, morals, and religions rising and falling, the idea of progress finds…

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