Can we still believe in progress?
I was listening to a very good podcast last week ("Can we still be modern?", revue ESPRIT) where the idea of progress was discussed. The concept of "modernity" must be understood here in the sense given by the Enlightenment philosophers, with its three pillars: A conviction, the emancipatory scope of knowledge. A means, the critical spirit. And finally a goal, human freedom.
The question is important, because if we lose confidence in a future which, with ups and downs, would be for the better, we then move from the perspective of progress towards the imminence of catastrophe, which is much less encouraging... But what exactly do we mean by "better", and by "progress"?
If we go back to the genesis of the concept of modernity, humanity, through its thirst for knowledge, its critical spirit and thanks to its reason, must progress towards its emancipation from all contingencies, from all dependencies. For three centuries, what we mean by progress has been driven mainly by the market economy and more generally by capitalist logic, the main engine of the machine. Today, it means above all into an accumulation of goods. More comfort, more resources, more production, more consumption, more power, more... a lot of "more", but a deletion of "better".
So, does progress mean more freedom?
Admittedly, the question may seem boatish or even caricatural, probably asked fifteen times at the philosophy baccalaureate. It is also partly indecent because formulated by someone who is not hungry. But nevertheless it seems necessary to me to pose it, because modernity and the idea of progress were born in the exercise of methodical doubt, of the permanent questioning of reflections, beliefs, knowledge, sciences which are never acquired. These notions must not today be freed from this ontological introspection.
Progress today seems partly misguided by the logic of the market, by profit, it escapes us, even alienates us. It was once the promise of a future of abundance, today we need to rebuild the engine so that progress becomes once again the promise of a future of freedom, and even a future at all.
The link with matériO', you ask? But it is obvious, it is even bright, what the hell! Curiosity, open-mindedness, independence, reflection, reason, thirst for knowledge, chouquettes, critical thinking, free will, methodical doubt (especially about the relevance of wearing moccasins)... that's all matériO'!
Quentin