Revising the criteria of social progress (Pitirim Sorokin's concept)

The article considers the views of an outstanding Russian-American philosopher, sociologist Pitirim Sorokin on the problem of determining the character and manifestations of the progressive development of society. Relying on the results of studying these issues by the philosophers of the Antiquity, the early modern period, and the age of Enlightenment, summarizing the theoretical positions prevailing in Western European and domestic social science in the 19th-20th centuries, we have investigated the origins and the main stages of development of the concept of social progress by Pitirim Sorokin, its main provisions and conclusions. The article describes the evolution of the scientist's ideas about the reasons for existence of the ascending line of society development. As it is well known, P. Sorokin in his works of the early 20th century denied the existence of the problem of progress itself. However, after the large-scale study of the patterns of sociocultural dynamics undertaken by him, the scientist had radically changed his position. In the later works P. Sorokin substantiated the significance of unselfish creative love as a main condition and criterion of social progress in any social system.