“The review of the idea of social progress in the history of thought discloses in sharp outline alternative appraisals both positive and negative. This does not dismiss but rather accentuates the importance of our basic in-quiry: Does the course of history reveal any upward march of humanity in the pursuit and attainment of values, and of the highest values? Conflict and bafflement on this issue is a major aspect of the social crisis in our day.”
Tsanoff surveys the history of the idea of progress in Western thought from classical antiquity to the present. He rejects the view that progress is inevitable; he suggests rather that the history of civilization is marked by a display of the increasing range of men's capacities for good or for evil.
Lexington, Kentucky: University Press of Kentucky, 1971. Hardcover. Octavo. 376 pages. Near fine copy in near fine dust jacket (price clipped).
