Belief in human progress has been a hallmark of liberalism. It is the expectation that the economic, moral and political circumstances of this most problematic of animal species, mankind, will improve indefinitely over the course of time for as long as there is life on earth.
Condorcet was confident of this. He believed that, through a careful study of history, the laws of human development would become evident, and that possessed of the knowledge of these laws, humanity would be empowered to achieve its own perfection through democratic means.
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