The Political Theory of Progress Reconsidered

This course will consider the origins and fate of Enlightenment theories of political progress. We will begin with the classic accounts of progress in Kant, Hegel, and Marx, before turning to conservative critics of progress (Burke, de Maistre), and non-conservative challenges to the idea of progress (Weber, Schmitt, Adorno, Arendt), before concluding with contemporary controversies around the idea of progress as it pertains to technology, the environment, and economic inequality.