Idea of Progress

(noun)

In intellectual history, the idea that advances in technology, science, and social organization can produce an improvement in the human condition. That is, people can become better in terms of quality of life (social progress) through economic development (modernization), and the application of science and technology (scientific progress). The assumption is that the process will happen once people apply their reason and skills, for it is not divinely foreordained.

Related Terms

Examples of Idea of Progress in the following topics:

  • Civilizing the City

    • The Progressives worked hard to reform and modernize schools at the local level.
    • The result was the rapid growth of the educated middle class, who typically were the grass roots supporters of progressive measures.
    • Progressives believed that the family was the foundation stone of American society, and the government, especially municipal government, must work to strengthen and enhance the family.
    • In Wisconsin, the stronghold of Robert Lafolette, the Wisconsin Idea used the state university as a major source of ideas and expertise.
    • Johnson, mayor of Cleveland, Ohio from 1901-1909, is considered a great influence in the progressive movement in the United States.

  • Brainstorming

    • Brainstorming is a prewriting technique used to help generate lots of potential ideas about a topic.
    • The technique can take many forms, but perhaps the of them most effective is that it draws on the power of interaction.
    • You can create one of those conversations about the topic of your paper. 
    • Jot down notes as the conversation progresses and you hear ideas that spark your interest.
    • Once you've generated a lot of ideas through brainstorming, you can choose a few of them to do further prewriting exercises with to eventually create your thesis statement.

  • Introduction

    • It sounds like a very technical idea, but basic harmonic analysis just means understanding how a chord is related to the key and to the other chords in a piece of music.
    • Many standard forms (for example, a "twelve bar blues") follow very specific chord progressions, which are often discussed in terms of harmonic relationships.
    • If you understand chord relationships, you can transpose any chord progression you know to any key you like.
    • If you are searching for chords to go with a particular melody (in a particular key), it is very helpful to know what chords are most likely in that key, and how they might be likely to progress from one to another.
    • Harmonic analysis is also necessary for anyone who wants to be able to compose reasonable chord progressions or to study and understand the music of the great composers.

  • The Limits of Progressivism

    • Although the Progressive Era was a period of social progress, it also had multiple, contradictory goals that impeded reform efforts.
    • Furthermore, despite the Bull Moose Party's declaration of a Progressive Party Platform, the American public viewed it more as coalition of fervent Roosevelt supporters, rather than any comprehensive party platform that accounted for the range of Progressive concerns.
    • There is much scholarly debate over the end of the Progressive Era.
    • Historians of women and of youth emphasize the strength of the Progressive impulse in the 1920s.
    • International influences that sparked many reform ideas likewise continued into the 1920s, as American ideas of modernity began to influence Europe.

  • The Varieties of Progressivism

    • Emerging at the end of the 19th century, progressive reformers established much of the tone of American politics throughout the first half of the century.
    • Politically, progressives of this era belonged to a wide range of parties: with leaders from both the Democratic and Republican parties, the Bull-Moose Republicans, Lincoln–Roosevelt League Republicans (in California) and the United States Progressive Party.
    • Many of the core principles of the Progressive Movement focused on the need for efficiency and the elimination of corruption and waste.
    • The Progressives believed in the Hamiltonian concept of positive government, of a national government directing the destinies of the nation at home and abroad.
    • President Theodore Roosevelt generally supported this idea and was later to incorporate it as part of his "New Nationalism."

  • Structural Points of Arrival

    • It involves the establishment of the primary melodic material (usually through the use of one or more statments of a basic idea) and the establishment of the tonality of the theme (usually through tonic prolongation).
    • Fragmentation – Breaking the melody into smaller chunks (for example, following two-bar basic ideas with one-bar fragments of the same melodic material).
    • A classical cadential progression begins with the last chord of tonic prolongation and ends with a cadential arrival.
    • An authentic-cadential progression will begin with the final Tchord, progress (optionally) through S, and end with the cadentialD T progression (always D5 T1):
    • None of these functions are optional; all must be present in a normative formal progression.

  • Features of Progressivism

    • The Progressive Era was a time of great political, social and economic reform for the United States.
    • One of the main political goals of the Progressive Movement was to expose corruption within the United States government.
    • In 1902, the Oregon System of "Initiative, Referendum, and Recall" was passed, largely due to the efforts of Progressive senator William S.
    • The result was a rapid growth of the educated middle class—typically the grass roots supporters of Progressive measures.
    • The idea centered on birth control that would enable parents to focus their resources on fewer, better children.

  • Trading off Equity and Efficiency

    • Vertical equity usually refers to the idea that people with a greater ability to pay taxes should pay more.
    • Vertical equity follows from the laddering of income tax to progressively higher rates.
    • The purpose of a progressive tax system is to increase the tax burden to those most able to pay.
    • The net result from this reasoning is that progressive taxation results in lower GDP than would have resulted in a proportional tax regime, also referred to as a loss of economic efficiency.
    • Explain tax equity in relation to the progressive, proportional, and regressive nature of taxes.

  • Five-Part Rondo

    • Hybrid themes generally combine the features of sentences and periods.
    • This results in a complete presentation–continuation–cadential function progression in the antecedent phrase followed by an incomplete continuation–cadential function progression.
    • Hybrid 2 similarly begins with an antecedent phrase, but follows with a four-bar-long cadential progression.
    • This "compound basic idea" (CBI) presents the melodic structure of an antecedent (two contrasting melodic ideas), but uses the harmonic structure of a presentation phrase (tonic prolongation).
    • The CBI expresses presentation function, which is picked up in the beginning of the consequent phrase that contains the basic idea, and possibly tonic harmony, as well.

  • Motif

    • Another term that usually refers to a piece of melody (although it can also refer to a rhythm or a chord progression) is "motif".
    • A motif is a short musical idea - shorter than a phrase - that occurs often in a piece of music.
    • A short melodic idea may also be called a motiv, a motive, a cell, or a figure.
    • A leitmotif (whether it is a very short cell or a long phrase) is associated with a particular character, place, thing, or idea in the opera and may be heard whenever that character is on stage or that idea is an important part of the plot.
    • This is a good example of a short melodic idea (a cell, motive, or figure) that is used in many different ways throughout the movement.