| 翻訳と辞書 |
Improvement
Improvement is the process of a thing moving from one state to a state considered to be better, usually through some action intended to bring about that better state. The concept of improvement is important to governments and businesses, as well as to individuals.
==History of the concept==
The term "improvement" historically referred to land improvement, the process of making wild land more suitable for human uses, particularly the cultivation of crops.〔Alan Craig Houston, ''Benjamin Franklin and the Politics of Improvement'' (2008), p. 12.〕 This limited agricultural use of the term changed in the 17th century, when "its metaphoric range was extended to include a host of social and political reforms aimed at growth, development, or perfection".〔 In short order, the term "improvement" became "nothing less than shorthand for the civilizing process",〔〔See also Andrew D. Lambert, ''The Gates of Hell: Sir John Franklin's Tragic Quest for the North West Passage'' (2014), p. 136: "The Enlightenment concept of improvement as applied to the land was seen as a civilising mission".〕 and thereafter "played an important role in eighteenth- century European debates over the foundations of social order".〔 Friedrich Nietzsche criticized this concept of "improvement" in his notes published in ''The Will to Power'', asserting that it created a false and self-serving sense of human superiority over nature, and that the "civilizing" of man was actually a "softening".〔Friedrich Nietzsche, ''The Will to Power'' (2011 ed.), p. 91, 212.〕
In the 20th century, the concept of improvement expanded even further. Businesses developed philosophies of having a continual improvement process, wherein all activities of the business are constantly examined to weed out inefficiencies and better ways of carrying out tasks. At the same time, the concept of individual self-improvement blossomed, leading to "tremendous growth in self-help publishing () self-improvement culture",〔Micki McGee. ''Self-Help, Inc.: Makeover culture in American Life'' (Oxford 2005) p. 12.〕 wherein people assessed their lives in much the same way. Home improvement, the process or result of improving the efficiency, livability, or market value of a personal dwelling, has also become a substantial industry.
抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』
■ウィキペディアで「Improvement」の詳細全文を読む
スポンサード リンク
| 翻訳と辞書 : 翻訳のためのインターネットリソース |
Copyright(C) kotoba.ne.jp 1997-2016. All Rights Reserved.
|
|