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Progress is movement towards a perceived refined, improved, or otherwise desired state.[1][2][3] It is central to the philosophy of progressivism, which interprets progress as the set of advancements in technology, science, and social organization efficiency – the latter being generally achieved through direct societal action, as in social enterprise or through activism, but being also attainable through natural sociocultural evolution – that progressivism holds all human societies should strive towards.
The concept of progress was introduced in the early-19th-century social theories, especially social evolution as described by Auguste Comte and Herbert Spencer. It was present in the Enlightenment's philosophies of history. As a goal, social progress has been advocated by varying realms of political ideologies with different theories on how it is to be achieved.
- ^ "Progress definition and meaning | Collins English Dictionary".
- ^ "Progress | Meaning of Progress by Lexico". Archived from the original on October 16, 2018.
- ^ "PROGRESS | meaning in the Cambridge English Dictionary".