The Phenomenon of Progress - Term Paper Example

d PROGRESS INTRODUCTION The word progress has several meanings in today’s context of human study and two major concepts are those of general Context and the scientific one. In order to gain a clear understanding of the concept of scientific progression one needs to have a clear understanding of the general concept that starts with the origination of the concept and its meaning. The word progress, derived from the Latin language pro-gradi, refers to moving forward, advancing towards the next step or going towards a direction. Being comprehensive in its meaning, the phenomenon of progress can be applied to a variety of aspects from life from ideas to social standing. Historically, progress has been associated with moving in the positive direction and is seen as a sign of growth of humankind as a part of a single cultures, race, geographical background, ethnicity etc. ‘Progress’ is opposed by another concept called regression which implies going backwards to a less advanced stage (Gismondi). The evolution of progress and the underlying implications of regression are analyzed in this paper in order to conclude the parameters of measuring real progress. For this purpose, the ideas of a number of renowned writers and philosophers will be compared in order to come up with an independent conclusion of our own. RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN REGRESSION AND PROGRESS As mentioned above, the two phenomenons of progression and regression are inversely related to each other. This is because one represents a positive move towards betterment and the other represents negativity that is associated with foregoing efforts to advance instead of moving ahead. PROGRESS TRAP AND HEALTHY PROGRESS As the name the phrase suggests, progress trap refers to the humankind being trapped in the repercussions of its own doings as a move towards progress. The problem stands s in the assumption that the positive application of one strategy on a smaller scale will make the same impact on larger scale as well. However, the result is in the human race getting caught in its own woven web. For example, a civilization existing in a village near a river bank with all amenities of life available at ease and the surrounding fertile area. Humans decided that this could not be the situation forever and they had to develop themselves to be better and advanced by working towards making the village into a city. The means to achieve food became different and less cumbersome, job emerged, a whole economic system came into place and soon this village became a symbolic advanced society. However, the long term effects of this move towards progression was the increase in population, increase in pollution, depletion in the levels of available limited resources and most evidently the damage of the once-fertile land. The current hazardous pollution in china, poverty in the African region, deforestation in brazil, acid rains, inflation due to lack of supply etc. are just some of the many examples reflect the progress trap concept. Many debates on the said topics have managed to raise questions but seldom answer any. There is no arguing that it is imperative that there is a clear demarcation between good progress and bad progress. There are limited resources available to man and thus, progress too can only be limited. By exhausting resources heavily at one point in time, it is no surprise that the over exhaustion of limited resources lead to ultimate disruption of the whole society. This brings us to the concept of sustainable progress. Sustainable progress refers to the emphasis laid on the long term effectiveness of a measure that is taken at the present. For example, if the head of a state decides that a certain resource is to be used to satisfy the current demand for fuels, it is important that the long term implications, alternate resource measures and the sustainability usage patterns are determined to make the decision sustainable for the future generation’s survival as well. Thus, progression sustainability is a vital aspect to be evaluated in order to gauge the true success of the progress. A look into the several theories of progress can help us in gaining perspective regarding the concept of progress in today’s world. MARY DALY’S CONCEPT OF PROGRESS The societal hierarchy varies greatly across the globe. The male superiority in the human race has been debated for many decades now and as a result gave birth to the phenomenon of feminism. Feminism is a belief that women are oppressed, objectified and not given their due rights and respect. As a result, the males believe that they can use the females to satisfy themselves and oppress them further, hampering their growth and offering continuity to the prevalent subordination of women. Many feminist activists all over the world use mediums like protests, lawsuits, writing etc. to bring to light the prejudices against the female race as a whole, demanding and safeguarding their rights. One such feminist was Mary Daly who was professionally an academician and she came under the limelight when she did not allow men to attend her women studies class.an adamant believer in women rights he believed that the current problems like prostitution and rape were in fact because women had let men oppress them over the years. She believed that women were the rightful superiors over men and in order for them to gain their destined glory they had to revolt and boycott the company of men (Daly). Her discrimination against the male sex and strong, almost excessive, level of feminism is one of the examples that can be linked to the concept of feminism. Female oppression in this world of male dominance has certainly led to problems of their sexual exploitation and injustice. However, the solution is not to entirely shun the male species but to teach them to co-exist and treat women with respect and equality. DAVID HUME’S CONCEPT OF PROGRESS- STANDARDS OF THINKING Progress of the standards of thinking of the human race and the idea of morality were one of the key topics of reflection in the eighteenth century. David Hume, a Scottish scholar and writer, shed light on the issues that are related to the progress of morality. As emotional beings, Hume’s proposes that the human decisions are based on feelings and sentiments and not entirely on correct judgment. Thus, a person’s character, gain from an actions and emotional inclination influences a decision much more than the judgment of right and wrongs. This distorts the parameters to determine morality. For this purpose he proposed taking out the similarities amongst the different civilizations to judge morality and its progress (Hume, Selby-Bigge and Nidditch). IMMANUEL KANT’S CONTRIBUTION TO THE PROGRESSION OF THOUGHT Immanuel Kant, one of world’s renowned philosophers, suggested that the human perception is driven by individual minds as a result of an experience. Thus he proposes that it is the experience that drives the thought and not the other way round. Thus he argued that barbarism throughout the evolution of different civilizations has shaped the perceptions greatly and the only way towards progress is to change the experiences (Kant and Meiklejohn). He also believed that by attaining peace, a determinant of progress and enlightenment, through war, peace can prevail but not necessarily progress. Similarly global trade, another determinant of progress, is not the right answer if the ulterior motive of each party is self-interest. THOMAS KUHN’S OBSERVATIONS ABOUT THE PROGRESSION OF IDEAS AND SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTIONS A physician by profession and a renowned philosopher, Thomas Kuhn, revolutionized the whole concept of scientific progress through his writings. He believed that science and developments were not a result of man’s urge to succeed to come up with newer and better means to add on to previous to create entirely new studies and inventions, instead, it was a result of total angst and turmoil that led to the urge to develop in order to get out of the prevalent discomfort (Kuhn). He thus claimed that progress was in fact a result of struggle and it was necessary to be driven by negativities to come up with the positives. His theory contradicts with Kant’s belief that experiences need to be made better in order to shape positive attitudes and perceptions. The several theories regarding the influencers of progress have led us to evaluate each in the light of the initial comparison of the progression and regression. FINDINGS By studying the above mentioned theories of progress we can evaluate that the perception of progress is not clear or universally uniform. For every aspect on which the progress is being judged the parameters differ and contradict each other, making it impossible to reach to one solid conclusion of whether progress can be measured in its true sense with surety. A feminist view of progress proposes suppression of the male species, while morality views of progress suggest that it is affected by one’s inner sentiments and not rationality. The theory by Kant claims that experience drives perception and Kuhn contradicts him by suggesting that struggle is a necessary ingredient for true progress. The varieties of ideas bring us to some concrete findings and disrupt some previously formed perceptions too. By connecting these findings to the initial concept of progress we can ascertain that the direction, towards which advancement is known as progress, differs from culture to culture and person to person. Extreme perceptions can give a whole new dimension to the overall phenomenon of progress, distorting it with regression. The true progress lies in evaluating the long run effects of each action in every aspect whether it is related to the society, science, overall civilization, politics or even individuals. By looking at the sustainability of every action, progress measurement is bound to be more authentic and wholesome. CONCLUSION This paper started off with the general concept of progress and moved onto making use of some theories to clarify the different context in which it can be taken. However, one can dispute each theory on several grounds, making it feasible to come to a specific conclusion that supports the core points of each one. For example, positive feminism that stands up for the rights of the women without suppressing those of the males can be a positive ingredient in harmonizing today’s society that is plagued by nuisances like rape and prostitution. Where one theory suggests that experiences be made better to change perception, it is imperative that struggle is not ignored as a means to get there, this struggle could be an individual’s inner morals, conscience, society, race or the whole of mankind. The midway between the theories that minimize risks and promote the positives in the long run are the means to achieving true progress without falling into the trap of regression. Works Cited Daly, Mary. Pure Lust. 1st ed. Boston: Beacon Press, 1984. Print. Gismondi, Gualberto. Progress, Scientific And Human | Inters.Org. Inters.org. N. p., 2002. Web. 11 Jun. 2014. Hume, David, L. A Selby-Bigge, and P. H Nidditch. A Treatise Of Human Nature. 1st ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1978. Print. Kant, Immanuel, and J. M. D Meiklejohn. The Critique Of Pure Reason. 1st ed. Raleigh, N.C.: Alex Catalogue. Print. Kuhn, Thomas S. The Structure Of Scientific Revolutions. 1st ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1970. Print. Read More