meliorism 的词源

作为一个形而上学概念，“相信世界趋向于变得更好或能够改善”；在实际意义上，“通过有序的实际手段改善社会”；到1868年，这个词被归 attributed to “George Eliot”（乔治·艾略特，原名玛丽·安·埃文斯），源自拉丁语 melior 意为“更好”（参见 meliorate）+ -ism。相关词汇包括：Meliorist（1835年）；melioristic。

In her general attitude towards life, George Eliot was neither optimist nor pessimist. She held to the middle term, which she invented for herself, of "meliorist." She was cheered by the hope and by the belief in gradual improvement of the mass; for in her view each individual must find the better part of happiness in helping another. ["Life and Letters"]

在对待生活的总体态度上，乔治·艾略特既不是乐观主义者，也不是悲观主义者。她创造性地提出了一个中间立场——“改善主义者”。她被希望所鼓舞，相信大众会逐步改善；在她看来，每个人都应该在帮助他人中找到真正的幸福。——摘自《生活与信件》

I don't know that I ever heard anybody use the word "meliorist" except myself. But I begin to think that there is no good invention or discovery that has not been made by more than one person. The only good reason for referring to the "source" would be, that you found it useful for the doctrine of meliorism to cite one unfashionable confessor of it in the face of the fashionable extremes. ["George Eliot," letter to James Sully, Jan. 19, 1877]

我不记得听过其他人使用“改善主义者”这个词，除了我自己。但我开始觉得，任何重大发明或发现几乎都是由不止一个人提出的。提到“来源”的唯一合理理由，可能是因为你发现引用一个不太流行的支持者，对于阐述改善主义理论有助益，尤其是在面对流行极端观点时。——摘自《乔治·艾略特致詹姆斯·萨利的信》，1877年1月19日