History and the Idea of Progress

Cornell University Press (1995)
Arthur M. Melzer, Jerry Weinberger, and M. Richard Zinman
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The publication of Francis Fukuyama’s article “The End of History?” prompted a wave of public debates about democracy, progress, and the idea of history. In this book, twelve distinguished cultural commentators offer a brilliant array of responses to those debates.

In his controversial essay Fukuyama had considered whether Western-style democracy might be the endpoint of an inevitable historical development. The chapters in the present volume-none of which has appeared elsewhere-include both a keynote essay by Fukuyama and a series of spirited alternatives to his position. Additional essays examine the historical and philosophical origins of the idea of History that lies behind today’s perspectives on progress and politics.

Contributers; Joseph Cropsey. Werner J. Dannhauser. Jean Bethke Elshtain. Francis Fukyuama. Alan Gilbert. Samuel P. Huntington. Christopher Lasch. Harvey C. Mansfield. Conor Cruis O’Brien. Terry Pinkard. Richard Rorty. Susan Shell.