Evolution and Progress: A Historical-Sociological Analysis of K.M. Takhtarev’s Concept
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: The article is devoted to the consideration of views on the problem of progress by the Russian professional sociologist Konstantin Mikhailovich Takhtarev. Turning to the experience of Russian sociology of the 19th and early 20th centuries continues to be an urgent task to ensure the independent development of Russian social studies. First of all, the attention is drawn to the methodology of the author’s approach: Takhtarev’s sociology belongs to the neo-positivist trend in Russian sociology, which is based, in one respect, on a critical attitude to the schemes of classical evolutionism and subjective-a priori ideas about the historical process, and, on the contrary, on the recognition of the fundamental role of the empirical, factual side in description and conceptual-ization of the processes of social evolution and progress. The article examines Takhtarev’s views on the evolu-tion of ideas and theories of progress, approaches to understanding progressive problematics as well as his own notions about the essence of progressive social development, its mechanisms, and indicators. Takhtarev understands the progressive development as a real and multidimensional process driven by individuals’ and human collectives’ activities in order to meet diverse individual and social needs and create opportunities for human improvement.
Author: Viktor V. Prokazin
Institution: Amur State University
Language: English
Topic: Legal and Social Philosophy
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W7203860092