In this episode of Notions of Progress, we explore the fascinating evolution of progress thinking with Professor Tyson Retz, author of "Progress in the Scale of History" (Cambridge University Press, 2022). Professor Retz introduces his innovative five-category framework that traces various conceptions of progress as part of a layered and contingent perspective from antiquity to the present day.

🎯 Key Topics Discussed:
Five Categories of Progress: Periodizations from Antiquity to the Present
-No Progress - Why the ancients couldn't conceive of progress as we understand it. "societies far and wide in the ancient world believed that time destroyed things rather than improved them."[1]
-Absolute Progress - Universal history - stadial theory - the emergence of progress as a "collective singular" [2] blending scientific, moral, and human advancement.
-Relative Progress - Progress as unevenly distributed and context-dependent. "progress for some meant decline for others" [3]
-Everybody's Progress - The tension between collective state imposition of historical direction versus spontaneous market order (e.g. Neoliberalism, the rejection of historicism). “economic growth became the dominant historical narrative in the twentieth century”[4]
-Anti-Progress (Contemporary) - Contemporary rejection or skepticism toward progress narratives, driven by environmental crisis, expanded geological timescales, technological determinism.[5]

Footnotes
Retz, Tyson. Progress and the Scale of History. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2022, p. 13. ↩
Ibid., p. 16. ↩
Ibid., p. 6. ↩
Ibid., p. 45. ↩
Ibid., pp. 7-16. (from the Introduction) ↩

Major Themes:
✓ An expanded ideas of scale in shaping progress narratives ✓ The importance of “domain specificity” in analyzing a particular historical claim ✓ Progress as a “collective singular” - a layered understanding of progress comprised of multiple meanings ✓ Statistics as state narratives of progress ✓ Optimism vs. pessimism in contemporary progress debates
Fascinating Historical Insights:
Why ancient Greeks celebrated advancement but didn't believe in "progress"
Japan's influence on “marginalized states” in the late 19th - early 20th century
The paradox of progressive politics rejecting the concept of progress
The role of expansive conceptions of history (big history, deep history, the anthropocene) in minimizing the role of the individual agency as historical actors

🎓 About Our Guest:
Professor Tyson Retz - Associate Professor of Intellectual History, University of Stavanger, Norway.
Prof. Retz is an intellectual historian with a PhD from the University of Melbourne. His research examines how concepts like progress, empathy, and historical consciousness have been constructed and contested across different periods.

📚 Referenced Works in this Episode:
"Progress in the Scale of History" - Tyson Retz (2022)
"The Idea of Progress" - J.B. Bury
"The Idea of Progress in Classical Antiquity" - Ludwig Edelstein
"The Poverty of Historicism" - Karl Popper

Chapters
00:00 Introduction to Progress and Historical Context
01:49 The Concept of Progress: A Paradox
04:22 Scale and Its Impact on Understanding Progress
06:45 Absolute Progress
08:24 Scale
10:00 The Role of Sample Size in Progress Claims
11:02 Bury
12:18 Debates on Ancient Beliefs in Progress
15:11 The First Category: No Progress in Antiquity
16:15 No Progress
17:47 Transition to Absolute Progress
20:28 Relative Progress: A New Perspective
22:57 Japanese Perspectives on Progress
25:25 Conclusion: The Future of Progress Discussions
29:54 End of Part 1

💬 Join the Conversation: Do you see current relevance to the ideas of “No Progress” or “Absolute Progress” discussed in part 1 ? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

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Coming Soon:
Part 2 of our discussion with Prof. Retz on Relative Progress, Everybody’s Progress and Anti-Progress

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