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STS - Chapt Two

Chapter II discusses the impact of intellectual revolutions in science and technology that transformed society, focusing on three key revolutions: the Copernican, Darwinian, and Freudian. Each revolution challenged established beliefs and faced resistance, yet significantly advanced human understanding of the universe, evolution, and psychology. The chapter emphasizes the importance of these paradigm shifts in shaping modern scientific thought and societal perspectives.

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20 views4 pages

STS - Chapt Two

Chapter II discusses the impact of intellectual revolutions in science and technology that transformed society, focusing on three key revolutions: the Copernican, Darwinian, and Freudian. Each revolution challenged established beliefs and faced resistance, yet significantly advanced human understanding of the universe, evolution, and psychology. The chapter emphasizes the importance of these paradigm shifts in shaping modern scientific thought and societal perspectives.

Uploaded by

Kier Tabz
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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CHAPTER II

Intellectual Revolutions That Defined Society

OBJECTIVES:

At the end of the chapter, the students shall be able to:


1. Articulate ways by which society is transformed by science and technology

What is an intellectual revolution?


In Science and Technology, intellectual revolutions refer to series of events that
led to the emergence of modern science and more current scientific thinking across
critical periods in history.
Intellectual revolutions as paradigm shifts
Intellectual revolutions can be considered paradigm shifts resulting from a
renewed and enlightened understanding of how the universe behaves. They challenged
long held views about the nature of the universe. Thus, these revolutions were more
often than not met with huge resistance and controversy, especially during their onset.
In the words of French astronomer, mathematician and freemason, Jean Sylvain
Bailley (1976 in Cohen), these scientific revolutions involves two-stage process:
a. Stage 1: ‘sweeping away the old’
b. Stage 2: ‘establishing the new’

COPERNICAN REVOLUTION
The Copernican Revolution
refers to the 16th century paradigm
shift named after Polish
mathematician and astronomer
Nicolaus Copernicus. Copernicus
formulated the heliocentric model of
the universe. At the time, the
geocentric model of Ptolemy was the
widely held belief about the universe
(i.e., Ptolemaic model).
The idea that it is the Sun and
not the Earth that is at the center of
the universe proved to be unsettling in the beginning. In fact, the heliocentric model was
met with huge resistance, primarily from the Church, who accused Copernicus of being
a heretic. At the time, the idea that it is not the Earth, and, by extension, not man too,
that is at the center of all creation proved to be uncomfortable.
Figure 22. Nicolaus Copernicus
The contribution of the Copernican Revolution is, until today, far-reaching. It
served as a catalyst to sway scientific thinking away from age long views about the
position of the Earth relative to an enlightened understanding of the universe. This
marked the beginning of the birth of modern astronomy.

DARWINIAN REVOLUTION
English naturalist, geologist, and biologist Charles Darwin is credited for stirring
another important scientific revolution in the mid-
19th century. His treatise on the science of
evolution, on “The Origin of Species”, was
published in 1859 and began a revolution that
brought humanity to a new era of intellectual
discovery.
Darwinian Revolution benefitted from
earlier scientific revolutions in the 16th and 17th
century in that it was guided by confidence in
human reason’s ability to explain phenomena in
the universe. For his part, Darwin gathered
evidence pointing to what is now known as natural selection, an evolutionary process by
which organisms, including humans, inherit, develop, and adapt traits that favored
survival and reproduction.
Darwin’s theory of evolution was, of course, met with resistance. Critics accused
the theory of being either short in accounting for the broad and complex evolutionary
process or that the functional design of organisms was a manifestation of an omniscient
God that of a theory of evolution.
Figure 23. Charles Darwin

FREUDIAN REVOLUTION
Sigmund Freud is credited for stirring a 20 th
century scientific revolution named after him, the
Freudian Revolution. Psychoanalysis is at the center
of this revolution. Freud developed Psychoanalysis
as a scientific method of understanding inner and
unconscious conflicts springing from free
associations, dreams and fantasies of the individual.
Scientists working on a biological approach to
human behavior criticized Psychoanalysis for lacking
vitality and bordering unscientific as a theory.
Particularly, the notion that all humans are destined
to exhibit Oedipus and Electra complexes, i.e., sexual
desire to the opposite sex parent and exclusion of the same sex parent, seemed to not
be supported by empirical data.
Amidst the controversy, Freud’s Psychoanalysis is widely given credit for
dominating psychotherapeutic practice from the early 20 th century. Psychodynamic
therapies that treat a myriad of psychological disorders remain still largely informed by
Freud’s work on Psychoanalysis.
Figure 24. Sigmund Freud

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