Evaluating a change in an entire society involves the same kinds of difficult comparisons, plus a whole collection of additional ones based on distributive concerns. For instance, if a society becomes wealthier and less egalitarian over time, is this an improvement or not?
Theodor Adorno (1903–1969) wrote Minima Moralia, a collection of short pieces, during World War II and its aftermath
“Millions of Jews have been murdered, and this is to be seen as an interlude and not as the catastrophe itself” (1951, 55).
justification of a particular conception of liberal justice, one that supports basic political and civil freedoms, and also dictates significant economic redistribution
Other skeptical arguments point to the difficulty of inferring broad historical laws from available evidence. In pursuit of a universal history, most theorists refuse to create a priori accounts and instead rely on empirical inferences.
Finally, even if one accurately captures a trend, it is difficult to extrapolate into the future