‘Western World’, ‘East’ and the Idea of Progress in Eighteenth Century Britain
In my article I try to explain the mechanism which allowed the eighteenth century elite of western European countries to distinguish itself from „Eastern Europe” as a group of states and nations in need for a reform of the system and of political education. To achieve this goal I analyze the concepts of „Eastern Europe” and „progress” as well problems such as the Enlightenment’s ideal of a good economy, the eighteenth century British vision of Poles and Russians with the complex of inferiority accompanying it, and Condorcet’s idea of progress as a vital factor in the history of nations.
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