Progress

Shahab Sabahi

Energy and Environment for Development – Policy Analysis Research Group

In a discussion with Professor Shabbir, I was asked for my thought on the concept of “progress”. By nature my mind was starting to make up words, based on my knowledge, for expressing my proposition, but I paused. Second thought ran through my mind that it would be better to look into “progress” from a different perspective. I have never thought about its concept in the context of our days.

Progress entails time and reference. It is a dynamic phenomenon that occurs over the time span. It should also be gauged and compared with a reference. Therefore an accurate definition, from social science standpoint, would be as “humankind evolves toward perfections”. In effect perfections are values which are established in societies. Let me borrow the values from the origin of law.  

Thomas Aquinas in his Summa Theologica describes that virtue denotes a certain perfection of powers. He says that “a thing's perfection is considered chiefly in regard to its end. But the end of power is act. Wherefore power is said to be perfect, according as it is determinate to its act”.

Thomas defined the four cardinal virtues as prudence, temperance, justice, and fortitude which are natural and revealed in nature, and they are binding on everyone. There are, however, three theological virtues, faith, hope and charity. These are somewhat supernatural and are distinct from other virtues in their object.

The object of the intellectual and moral virtues is something comprehensible to human reason. Therefore the theological virtues are specifically distinct from the moral and intellectual virtues

Giving this ground, we are now able to discuss about the concept of progress.

The concept of progress had been developing for centuries before conceding as a principle by western societies. In the 17th century, enlightenment thinkers believed that man emancipated by reason would rise to ever greater heights of achievement. The many manifestations of his humanity would be the engines of progress: language, community, science, commerce, moral sensibility and government. Unfortunately, many of those engines have failed.

Inevitably for developed western countries, the idea, in its classical form, was fundamental for their freedom, democracy and technological advancements.

The idea supported the development of reasoning and rationale and also free-market, social spending, innovation and investments. Societies have continued to advance in the paths which the idea of progress had paved.

But there is a flip side. The 18th century, societies were optimistic that business could bring prosperity; and that prosperity, in its turn, could bring enlightenment. Business has lived up to the first half of that promise. (Joseph Schumpeter) In the early 20th, the idea that individual progress should be subsumed into the shared destiny of nation led to break out of wars. Nationalism became the chief organizing principle of society even in the Middle East. Ruling elite in the pursuit of progress, in some countries, committed crime against people. The idea that humans would advance as part of a collective, would encourage few that have the right and the duty to impose progress on the masses whether they choose it or not,. It claims the blood of millions. With the demise of communism in the early 90s, it was proved that decay is inevitable for every system (No system is perfect and cannot get close to perfection) that basing on stagnated ideologies. Even ideology and concept should get changes over time as the society’s values are altered.   

Now the modern world focuses on consumption and quantities progress. They are based on the classical capitalism principles.

There is a question. Does capitalism with its classical and untouched principles along with technologies have power to tackle our day’s challenges such as climate change, inequality, poverty, energy security, water and food management and support any changes in favor of the wellbeing of the world?

Certainly history has more stories about the usefulness of technologies, but the point is that the quantitative concept of progress is unable to guide smoothly onto progress for humanity. From the human progress perspective, science needs governing and to be hitched to what humanity call “moral progress”. It yields untold benefits, if people wisely use it. Societies should understand what kind of technologies benefit the whole aspects of their lives and how the technologies should be used.  And to do that, we must take into account the society’s values and the way through which people behave in each society based on theirs own culture and the universal human value.