Economics 1776 Chapter Notes - Chapter Nisbet: English Civil War, Immanuel Kant, Thomas Robert Malthus
18 Jun 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
The$Idea$of$Progress
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working-and$lower-class$social$radicalism$made$its$appearance$in$
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"We$have$acknowledged$the$non-and$anti-Puritan$sources$of$
science$and$philosophy$of$history,$and$accepted$the$possibility$of$
exaggeration$or$distortion$of$actual$Puritan$influence.$Still$it$
remains$impossible$to$do$justice$to$modern$thought,$scientific$and$
other,$without$explicit$recognition$of$the$large$number$of$Puritans$
whose$combinations$of$physical$science$(at$the$level$of$Newtonian$
genius),$powerful$statement$of$millenarianism$after$Joachim$and$
his$followers,$and$consecrated$interest$in$progressive$philosophy$
of$history$are$among$the$most$fascinating$and$vital$works$of$the$
seventeenth$century"$(126)
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What$is$so$striking$about$the$Puritan$conception$of$progress$is$that$it$
clearly$and$firmly$unites$these$two$strands$for$the$first$time$in$Western$
history
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Rattansi:$"very$much$alive$in$Newton's$England,$that$the$millennium$
would$be$preceded$by$a$flourishing$of$the$arts$and$sciences$that$would$
bring$men$nearest$to$the$condition$of$the$prelapsarian$Adam"$
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"Fundamental$to$the$idea,$as$we$have$seen,$is$faith$in$the$value$of$
human$knowledge,$the$kind$of$knowledge$that$is$contained$in$the$
sciences$and$the$practical$arts,$and$faith$also$in$the$capacity$of$such$
knowledge$to$lift$humanity$to$ever-higher$levels$of$human$life"$(128)
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For$such$an$idea$to$become$as$deeply$implanted$in$Western$
consciousness$as$it$has,$commencing$with$the$Greeks$and$Romans$and$
gathering$added$strength$from$the$Christians,$ordinary$experience,$logic,$
and$reason$are$not$enough.$So$sweeping$a$proposition$as$that$which$
declares$progress$a$necessity$for$mankind$can$scarcely$be$supported$by$
the$common$rules$of$evidence.$Deeper$wells$of$faith$are$required,$and$
these$necessarily$lead$not$so$much$to$conclusion$as$to$dogma.
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Only$through$the$cultivation$of$research$into$nature$and$man,$the$
Puritans$argued,$can$the$millennium$be$brought$to$an$early$
existence$on$Earth
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ingredient$of$19th$century$theories$of$progress,$along$with$the$
spirit$of$reform$and$utilitarian$emphasis$upon$material$happiness$
of$mankind
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Nisbet'Notes'(10/24/17)
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