THE REJECTION OF THE WHIG THEORY OF HISTORY. When I was a college student some fifty years ago, the Whig Theory of History seemed to be dominant. This wikipedia entry defines the theory as: “an approach to historiography that presents the past as an inevitable progression towards ever greater liberty and enlightenment, culminating in modern forms of liberal democracy and constitutional monarchy.”
David Wootton reviews Steven Pinker’s ENLIGHTENMENT NOW in the TLS (February 16, 2018). In the review, Wootton says: “Historians, at least since the 1970’s, have refused to write about progress even in cases where progress is obvious and important—medical care, for example. When I wrote a book on progress in medicine a distinguished Harvard professor wrote that I shouldn’t be earning a living as a historian because I had broken a fundamental professional taboo.”