The Temptation by Novelty

The article analyzes the phenomenon of progressivism existing at the level of mass consciousness and in the form of ideas and even ideologies. This phenomenon displays a number of characteristic features: the belief in the irreversibility and lack of alternatives to scientific-technological progress; an abeyance of tradition; the primacy of opinion over justification, of novelty and originality over the desire for truth; the pretentiousness of language. The article justifies the existence of an alternative paradigm to progressivism, which can be called «new evolutionism». It is argued that «new evolutionism» is not just a set of well-founded ideas, but a partially verified social and personal practice.

Keywords: progressivism, scientific and technological progress, posthuman, transhumanism, evolutionary potential of nature and man, «new evolutionism».