you know those multiple levels of abstraction you yield unconsciously and just happened to stumble upon and internalize in brief moments of aporia? Those are probably part of it.
Inventing all sciences. Killing god. Coming to terms with the absence of free will. Asking increasingly good and timely questions. 
Good one!

Do any of these things happen in modern philosophy?

Seems like “progress” happens in adjacent fields like the sciences or math/logic or linguistics or psychology. 

But how do you know if the philosophy field is actually making progress? Is novelty progress?

Searchcaster