Progressivism: The Snobbery of Chronology

Patheos: Progressivism: The Snobbery of Chronology by Peter Kreeft

… The fallacy of Progressivism is peculiarly modern. In fact, as we have just seen, the typically modern use of that very word “modern” to carry a (positive) value judgment is part of the fallacy. But the fallacy goes back to the Book of Job, who detected it in his three “friends” and repelled it with the famous bit of sarcasm: “No doubt you are the people and wisdom began with you!” It has also been called “the Whig theory of history,” “The Idea of Automatic Progress,” “Americanism” (by a papal encyclical, no less — see Ch. 12), and “Presentism.” The term “chronological snobbery” comes from C.S. Lewis (to my mind the clearest and most useful Christian writer since Thomas Aquinas) in his autobiography Surprised by Joy, where he gives his friend Owen Barfield credit for inventing it.

Lewis defines and refutes it at once as

the uncritical assumption that whatever has gone out of date is on that account discredited. You must find out why it went out of date. Was it ever refuted (and if so by whom, where, and how conclusively) or did it merely die away as fashions do? If the latter, this tells us nothing about its truth or falsehood. From seeing this, one passes to the realization that our own age is also ‘a period,’ and certainly has, like all periods, its own characteristic illusions. They are likeliest to lurk in those widespread assumptions which are so ingrained in the age that no one dares to attack or feels it necessary to defend them (Surprised by Joy, pp. 207-208).

Thus chronological snobbery is the identification, or confusion, of “change” with “progress.” …

… The opposite of Progressivism is conservatism or traditionalism. A conservative, by definition, is a happy person, one who is happy with what is. It is only for that reason that he wants to conserve it. A progressivist, on the other hand, is by definition an unhappy person, one who is unhappy with what is. It is only for that reason that he wants to change it. A conservative is someone who thinks happiness consists first of all in enjoying the good things we already have. A progressive is one who sees happiness first of all in hoping to enjoy the things we do not yet have. Adam and Eve were conservatives until the Devil made them into progressives. For the Devil himself was the first progressivist. The other angels were happy with God and His will, but the Devil wanted to progress to something better.

In other words, progressivists try to tell truth with a clock instead of an argument. It is as silly as trying to tell time with a syllogism instead of a clock. Or a calendar, which is only a larger, longer clock. For to say that an idea is no longer believable simply because this is the 21st century, not the 13th, is no different from saying that an idea is no longer believable because it is now 11:00 p.m, not 10:00 a.m. …

… One of the causes of chronological snobbery is a reaction to the opposite superstition, which often clouded the judgment of our ancestors: that “new” equals “false” and “true” equals “old.” “New” used to be a word of suspicion and “old” a word of affection. Now, it is exactly the opposite. Modern children use the word “old” as an insult (“You old . . . !”). But the ancients used it as a compliment….

… A second justification for Progressivism is the fact of evolution, which seems to apply to both the growth of the individual and the growth of the human race. As we grow, it seems we get smarter, bigger, stronger, and (in those senses) better, both individually and collectively.

Yes, but we don’t get happier, or holier, or wiser. …

… A third argument for Progressivism is the fact that there has indeed been progress, in fact obvious, automatic, and spectacular progress, in one field: technology. And since this has both causes and effects in every other field, it seems reasonable to believe in progress there as well.

But it isn’t. Cleverness in inventing machinery has no tendency to cause wisdom or virtue in the inventor. If anything, it causes pride, hubris, and addiction to the power the new machines give us. …

… But (so goes a fourth argument) there seems to have been progress not just in the sciences but also in the humanities. War and Peace is better than Beowulf, and Picasso is better than the Lascaux cave paintings, and Stravinsky is better than Gregorian chant.

The answer to that is very simple: No, they’re not. Name one 20th-century Homer, or Dante, or Shakespeare, or Rembrandt, or Beethoven. The humanities are an unmitigated disaster area today. …

… A fifth argument points to the virtue of hope. This is one of the three greatest things in the world, one of the three “theological virtues,” along with faith and love. How can you have hope if you don’t believe in progress? The two ideas seem almost identical.

But there are at least four differences. …

… If, as Chesterton said, “Tradition is the democracy of the dead,” then Progressivism is the elitism of the living — and within that, of a certain educated, well-off subset that enjoys sneering at once at its ancestors and its neighbors. Progressivism stifles the voices of the past, and amplifies the sound of our own speech, the better to help us pretend we have heard all points of view, then do exactly as we wish. …

… Worst of all, Progressivism clearly contradicts the very idea of a divine revelation. If there is such a revelation, Progressivism corrects it, corrects God Himself, and arrogates to itself the right to edit rather than deliver the divine mail, evaluating it by dating its postmark. …

… What’s the Antidote? …

Holy cow, Kreeft loads this one with zingers. Some excellent points.