Intellectual Revolutions That Defined Society

Intellectual
Revolutions that
Defined Society
Intended Learning Outcomes
At the end of the lesson, the students should be able to:
1. Identify the intellectual revolution that shaped society across time;
2. Explain how intellectual revolutions transformed the views of
society about dominant scientific thought, and
3. Research on other intellectual revolutions that advance modern
science and scientific thinking.
In the study of the history of science and technology,
another important area of interest involves the various
intellectual revolutions across time. In this, interest lies
in how intellectual revolutions emerged as a result of
the interaction of science and technology and of
society.
In science and technology, intellectual revolutions
refer to the series of events that led to the emergence
of modern science and the progress of scientific
thinking across critical periods in history.
There are three of the most important ones that altered
the way humans view science and its impacts on society;
1. Copernican Revolutions
2. Darwinian Revolutions
3. Freudian Revolutions
In the words of French astronomer, mathematician, and
freemascon, Jean Sylvain Bailley (1976 in Cohen), these
scientific revolutions involved a two-stage process of
sweeping away the old and establishing the new.
The understanding of intellectual revolutions, it
is worth noting that these revolutions are, in
themselves, paradigm shifts. This shifts resulted
from a renewed and enlighted understanding of
how the universe behaves and functions. They
challenged long-held views about the nature of
the universe. Thus these revolutions were often
met with huge resistance and controversy.
Copernican Revolution
The Copernican Revolution refers to the 16th-century paradigm shift
named after the Polish mathematician and astronomer, Nicolaus
Copernicus. Copernicus formulated the heliocentric model of the
universe. At the time, the belief was that the earth was the center of
the Solar System based on the geocentric model of Ptolemy.
Copernicus introduced the heliocentric model in a 40 page outline
entitled Commentariolus. He formalized his model in publication of his
treatise, De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium (The Revolution of
Celestial Spheres) in 1543. In his model, Copernicus repositioned the
Earth from the center of the Solar System and introduced the idea that
the Earth rotates on its own axis.
The idea that the Sun is at the center of the universe
instead of the Earth proved to be unsettling to many
when Copernicus first introduced his model. In fact, the
heliocentric model was met with huge resistance,
primarily from the Church accusing Copernicus of
heresy. At the time, the idea that it was not the Earth,
and, by extension, not man, that was at the center of
all creation was unthinkable. Copernicus faced
persecution from the Church because of this.
Moreover, although far more sensible than the
Ptolemaic model, which as early as the 13th century had
been criticized for its shortcomings, the Copernican
model also had multiple inadequacies that were later
filled in by astronomers who participated in the
revolutions. Nonetheless, despite problems with the
model and the persecution of the Church, the
heliocentric model was soon accepted by other
scientists of the time, most profoundly by Galileo
Galilei.
The contribution of the Copernican Revolution is 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 modern astronomy. Although very
slowly, the heliocentric model eventually caught on among
other astronomers who further refined the model and
contributed to the recognition of heliocentrism. This was
capped off by Isaac Newton’s work a century later. Thus, the
Copernican Revolution marked a turning point in the study of
cosmology and astronomy making it a truly important
intellectual revolution.
Darwinian Revolution
• The English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, Charles Darwin, is credited
for stirring another important intellectual 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.
• The Darwinian Revolution benefitted from earlier intellectual revolutions
especially those in the 16th and 17th centuries, such that it was guided by
confidence in human reason’s ability to explained 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. These traits are manifested in offsprings that are more fit and
well-suited to the challenges of survival and reproduction.
• Darwin’s theory of evolution was, of course, met with resistance and
considered to be controversial. Critics accused the theory of being
either short in accounting for the broad and complex evolutionary
process or dismissive of the idea that the functional design of
organisms was a manifestation of an omniscient God.
• The Darwinian Revolution can be linked to the Copernican
Revolution in its demonstration of the power of the laws of nature in
explaining biological phenomena of survival and reproduction.
• The place of the Darwinian Revolution in modern science cannot be
underestimated. Through the Darwinian Revolution, the development
of organisms and the origin of unique forms of life and humanity
could be rationalized by a lawful system or an orderly process of
change underpinned by laws of nature.
Freudian Revolution
• Austrian neurologist, Sigmund Freud, is credited got stirring a 20th-
century intellectual revolution named after him, the Freudian
Revolution. Psychoanalysis as a school of thought in psychology is at
the center of this revolution. Freud developed psychoanalysis-a
scientific method of understanding inner and unconscious conflicts
embedded within one’s personality, springing from free association,
dreams, and fantasies of the individual. Psychoanalysis immediately
shot into controversy for it emphasized the existence of the
unconscious where feelings, thoughts, urges, emotions, and
memories are contained outside of one’s conscious mind.
Psychoanalytic concepts of psychosexual development,
libido, and ego were met with both support and
resistance from many scholars. Freud suggested that
humans are inherently pleasure-seeking individuals.
These notions were particularly caught in the crossfire
of whether Freud’s psychoanalysis fit in the scientific
study of the brain and mind.
• Scientist working on biological approach in studying human behavior
criticized psychoanalysis for lack of vitality and bordering on being
unscientific as a theory. Particularly, the notion that all humans are
destined to exhibit Oedipus and Electra complexes (i.e., sexual desire
towards the parent of the opposite sex and exclusion of the parent of
the same sex) did not seem to be supported by empirical data. In the
same vein, it appeared to critics that psychoanalysis, them, was more
of an ideological stance than a scientific one.
• Amidst controversy, Freud’s psychoanalysis is widely credited for
dominating psychotherapeutic practice in the early 20th Century.
Psychodynamic therapies that treat a myriad of psychological
disorders still remain largely informed by Freud’s work on
psychoanalysis.
Activity
Instructions. Aside from the three intellectual revolutions discussed in
this lesson, other intellectual revolutions also took place across history
in many parts of the world, such as in Middle East, Asia, Africa, Meso
America, Information. Research on a particular intellectual revolution.
Make your own outline and include the highlights of your chosen
intellectual revolution.
Answer also the following guide questions for your outline.
1. What is the intellectual revolution all about?
2. Who are the key figures in the revolution?
3. How did the revolution advance modern science and scientific
thinking at the time?
4. What controversies met the revolution?

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