Abstract：The view of historical progress, once regarded as the standard in 19th century Western society, faced profound skepticism in the 20th century due to dual challenges from both reality and theory. It was replaced by continuous reflection and debate over whether history could truly progress, encompassing diverse perspectives including the regressive and cyclical theories of speculative philosophy of history, the relativism of reflective philosophy of history, ideologically charged liberalism or pluralism, the Enlightenment dialectic that critiques modernity, criticisms of linear modernization and growth limits, and the deconstructionism of postmodernism, etc. These seemingly disparate threads collectively depict the complex theoretical landscape of the Western view of historical progress in the 20th century-from its zenith to its confrontation with multifaceted challenges. This not only highlights the triple crisis encountered by the Western view of historical progress in ontology, epistemology, and methodology, but also reflects the overall characteristic of 20th century capitalism as "progress in alienation".

Key words：view of historical progress; grand narrative; dialectic of Enlightenment; modernization; postmodernism; alienation

Published on Journal of Historiography, Issue 3, 2025.