Progress Unchained

Peter J. Bowler is Emeritus Professor of the School of History, Anthropology, Politics and Philosophy at Queen's University Belfast.

• Preface; 1. Introduction: ladders and trees; Part I. The Ladder of Progress and the End of History: 2. From the chain of being to the ladder of creation; 3. The hierarchy of humanity; 4. Progress to paradise: Christianity, idealism and history; 5. Ascent to utopia: the quest for a perfect society; 6. End of an era?; Part II. Toward a World of Unlimited Possibilities: 7. Darwinian visions; 8. The uniqueness of humans; 9. Branching out: the evolution of civilizations; 10. Toward an uncertain future; 11. Epilogue: where did it all go wrong?; Bibliography.

'From the antique idea of a Chain of Being to the continually branching Tree of Life, Bowler brings a lifetime of learning to the intellectual history of progress. Few could show us with such precision and clarity how progress came to be 'unchained', and what this history might mean for our own visions of the future.' Alison Bashford, University of New South Wales