TY - BOOK ID - 70332651 TI - The Idea of Progress in Classical Antiquity PY - 2019 SN - 1421435578 1421435594 1421435586 PB - Johns Hopkins University Press DB - UniCat KW - Philosophy, Ancient. KW - Progress. KW - Social progress KW - Civilization KW - Regression (Civilization) KW - Social stability KW - Ancient philosophy KW - Greek philosophy KW - Philosophy, Greek KW - Philosophy, Roman KW - Roman philosophy UR - https://www.unicat.be/uniCat?func=search&query=sysid:70332651 AB - Originally published in 1967. Ludwig Edelstein characterizes the idea of "progress" in Greek and Roman times. He analyzes the ancients' belief in "a tendency inherent in nature or in man to pass through a regular sequence of stages of development in past, present, and future, the latter stages being—with perhaps occasional retardations or minor regressions—superior to the earlier." Edelstein's contemporaries asserted that the Greeks and Romans were entirely ignorant of a belief in progress in this sense of the term. In arguing against this dominant thesis, Edelstein draws from the conclusions of scholars of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and discusses ideas of Auguste Comte and Wilhelm Dilthey. ER -