Chapter 2 | Intellectual Revolution that Changed Worldview

Revolution- denotes drastic change in what is established, believed and embraced by society.

Intellectual revolutions impacted people’s views of the world

Copernican Revolution
Nicolaus Copernicus -astronomer of the renaissance period who challenged the previous notion about cosmos, led the so-called
Scientific Revolution, and permanently changed the way viewed the world.
Pre-Copernican System Copernican Heliocentrism Key Figures of the Scientific Revolution
•Geocentric model / geocentrism by Ptolemy140AD •Copernicus- attended University of Krakow This shift in thinking brought forth other personalities
- Described a universe with earth as the centre
- studied astronomy, mathematics, philosophy, and of the Renaissance era who came to prominence for
their unconventional beliefs and breakthroughs.

•Anaximander (c. 610-546 BC) sciences.

- drew the first map of the world with the earth taking - for him, geocentric model did not explain the • Giordano Bruno (1548-1600)

the shape of a cylinder floating in the center of the occasional backward movement of the planets that -a martyred Italian monk who spread Copernicus’
universe.
was regarded as the retrograde motion. theory of heliocentric and scientific universe

- believed that the sun and moon were hollow rings • Heliocentric model
- argued that the earth is not the center of the • Antonie van Leeuwenhoek (1632-1723
of fire and that eclipses were the result of this rings
-considered the “Father of Microbiology” who
closing
universe but the sun
discovered bacteria.

•Pythagoras (c. 570-495 BC) - earth’s rotation causes the rising and setting of the
- a student of Anaximander, was the first to suggest sun and the seasons
• Robert Boyle (1627-1691)

that the Earth was a sphere.

- the movement of the earth through space is what -considered the “Father of Chemistry” for his
- able to able to come up with such conclusions by sometimes causes the retrograde motion of planets
extensive experiment and use of scientific method.

studying the constellations and the earth’s circular • De Revolutionibus Orbium Colestium or 
 • Francis Bacon (1521-1626)
shadow on moon during a lunar eclipse
On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres -a staunched supporter of the empirical method and
•Plato (c. 428-348 BC) - challenged the perception of regarding the the inductive reasoning which provide people
- believed that the cosmos is made up of matter in universe and detailed the heliocentric model
understand truths according to their own
experience.

geometric shapes.
- Went against popular belief & Aristotelian physics
- he explained that the multiplicity of the orbits were • It took almost a hundred years before Copernicus’
• René Descartes
simple circular paths that keep on repeating inside theory formally gained respect and recognition -a French mathematician & philosopher who
each other around the earth, however he could not through further exploration.
practiced deductive reasoning and scientific
make sense of retrograde motion of planets in his • Tycho Brahe methods in solving problems and whose idea of the
theorization of the geocentric model.
- rejected the idea that the earth is not the center of human consciousness dominated until the 20th
century.p
•Aristotle (c. 384-322 BC) the universe because it defies the law of physics

- posited that the Earth was the center of the - Proposed geoheliocentrism or Tychonic system
universe with all other celestial bodies in concentric combined the Copernican & Ptolemaic systems.

crystalline spheres around it.

- His model is geometrically identical to that of
- Athough his idea was proven incorrect, he still Copernicus, except that the Earth is fixed center,
inspired great thinkers to search for the truth. with the sun and moon orbiting around the Earth,
and the other planets revolving around the sun.
•Copernicus ( 1473-1543) • Johannes Kepler
- “Father of Modern Astronomy,”
- proposed that laws of planetary motions in 1609,
- formulated the heliocentric model of the universe including theory that planets move in elliptical orbits
that triggered a major shift in a worldview. with the sun at one focus.

• Galileo Galilei (1632)

- published a book that further reinforced the claim

that the Earth orbited around the sun.

- using a telescope, he observed the movements of

the moon, Venus, and Jupiter and its satellites.

- discovered that the moon is not a smooth surface

and the existence of sunspots.

Sir Isaac Newton ( 1642-1726)

- was the first one to provide mathematical
equations that could prove what Copernicus, Brahe,
and Kepler tried to explain

- Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica,

discusses the laws of motion and Kepler’s law of
universal gravitation, placing heliocentrism as the
foundation of the theoretical claims.

 Darwinian Revolution
Pre-Darwinian Belief Darwin’s Theory of Evolution Evolutionary Science and Philosophy
• Creationism • Charles Darwin Darwinian revolution drew out for Biology the notion
- the view that the universe originated from “specific - entered Edinburgh University at 16 to study of nature as an orderly system governed by natural
medicine, where he discovered his interest in
acts of divine creation.”
laws, where the origin of humanity itself could be
natural sciences & worked with Robert Edmond
explained.

Grant

• Carolus Linnaeus - influenced by Adam Sedgwick & John Henslow

- leading botanist of the 18th century whose binomial • Accompanied by two excellent people:
• Evolutionary biology

classification system is being used today, •Robert Edmond Grant -a sub discipline of biological sciences that has to
subscribed to the Judeo—Christian version of - transmutationist, radical evolutionist and a do with the original of life as well as diversification
follower of a french biologists

creationism and saw their work as a mere and adaptation of life forms through time emerged
•Jean-Baptiste Lamarck

representation of the unchanging order of life - Darwin’s mentor & and taught him the growth & nearly a century after their Darwinian revolution.

created of life created by God.

relationships of primitive marine invertebrates

• Julian Huxley

• Erasmus Darwin The Voyager of the Beagle - Darwin’s account of the -a leading figure of the mid 20th century in the field
voyage published in 1839, caught the attention of
- the grandfather of the well-known 19th century of evolutionary biology who coined such a
scholars and institutions.

naturalist, Charles Darwin. relationship into a term called modern synthesis

- was a physician and a discreet evolutionist, then
The Campbridge Network gave him £1,000 treasury otherwise named Neo-Darwinism, reconciling
called a transmutationist, who believed evolution grant , which he employ experts and publish their Darwin’s theory of evolution with that of Gregor
descriptions of the many specimens he collected in his
occurred in living things including humans, however Mendel’s ideas on heredity into a joint framework.

travels

he lacked the idea as to what drove the change

• natural selection- a process where species that

- his writing served as Charles Darwin’s springboardadapt to the changing environment survive, whereas While Darwin and Mendel lived and published works
for his theory of evolution
those do not simply die out.
almost at the same time Mendel with his strong
• On the origin of Species by Means of Natural religious conviction did not believe in evolution and
• Zoonomia or the Laws of Organic Life (1794-1796) Selection - book where he further explained his Darwin did not read Mendel's paper on his genetic
theory.

- contained his theories about evolution and research.

• “Father of Evolution”
suggested that the Earth could have been much • Richard Owen
older than the timeline based on biblical origin. - determined that Darwin’s Uruguay river skull came • Philosophy of biology
from a Toxodon, and the Pampas fossils were not -branch of philosophy science relating to biology.

rhinoceroses and mastodons but extinct armadillos, -it makes biology relevant to classic issues in the
anteaters and sloths.

philosophy of signs such as causation and

•John Gould

- disclosed that the bird specimens that Darwin explanation, progress, reductionism and chance.

brought from Galapagos were all ground finches -emerged as an independent field of philosophy
that adapted differently. between 1960s and 1970s when scientists
increasingly paid attention to biology due to Neo-
Darwinism and the discovery of the DNA structure
 Freudian Revolution
Pre-Freudian Psychology Freud’s Psychoanalysis and Structure
of Personality
Philosophical interest in human mind as well as Sigismund “Sigmund” Freud (1856-1939)- was
behavior could be traced back to ancient philosophers initially interested in laboratory work concerning
of the early civilizations in Greece, Persia, Egypt and biological and anatomical subjects, but his interest
Evolution of Freud’s Psychoanalysis
Freud’s theory of psychoanalysis under when
transformation due to the modification of by a number
of psychologists of the 20th century:

Asia, but psychology as a branch of the phase of shifted from microscopic studies to living patients.

philosophy did not emerge until the late 1870s in • Magnum opus psychoanalysis • Carl Jung
Germany and eventually developed into an - detailed the methodology of treating mental illness
-is known for the development of analytical
independent scientific field.
- “Father of Psychoanalysis”
psychology, a branch of psychotherapy was an
• Drives or instincts are recurring concerts in Freud’s early supporter of Freud because of their shared
• Wilhelm Wundt theories. He said there are 2 conflicting instincts:
beliefs in the unconscious

- founded the first laboratory dedicated to - Eros which refers to survival instincts involving -disagreed with Freud’s emphasis on the role of
psychological research & conducted experimental basic hunger, thirst and sexual impulses.
sexuality in personality and introduce the concept of
studies.
- Thanatos which refers to aggressive and self- collective consciousness referring to shared social
destructive instincts driven toward death.
norms as well as archetypes

• Early figures in the field include

• Structures of personality this theory describes how -coined the terms “introvert” and “extrovert.”

- Herman Ebbinghaus (memory) people act according to different systems of

- William James (pragmatism)
personality. It is very complex having more than a • Alfred Adler
- Ivan Pavlov (classical conditioning).
single component, composed three structures:
-rejected Freud’s theory on the psychosexual aspect
Id of personality.

René Descartes’ paradigm also known as per - is the unconscious aspect of the personality that -developed his own method called individual
Cartesian paradigm, consist of two components:
includes untamed instincts, impulses, and desires.
psychology using a holistic approach to study a
- present since birth & operates by pleasure principle person‘s character

the mind-mind problem -view of the mind in relation requiring immediate gratification of all desires, wants & -his method considers a person’s environment as
to its self and ;
needs to avoid feeling anything other than pleasure.
well as the people he/she interacts with, and such
the mind-body problem -a view of the mind in relation - does not mature and resides within every individual as an approach became extremely relevant in 20th-
to the body.
he or she ages.
century counseling and psychiatric strategies.

Ego
Descartes was of the position that humans are - structure of personality responsible in dealing w/ reality
• Eric Erickson
immediately aware of their own cognitive states and -It functions as “referee” that balances the needs of -accepted Freud’s psychosexual development but
process out of the necessity and such self-aware mind the aid against demands & expectations of society.
modify it as a psychosocial theory.

is distinct from the body.

-controls & regulates the person in accordance with -While Freud believed that personality or only takes
the outside world & ruled by the reality principle, shape during childhood, Erickson just suggested
The mind is a mere non-physical thing that interacts maintaining realistic & logical thinking to satisfy one’s that personality develops throughout one’s life span.
with the physical body through the brain as a medium. needs in a socially acceptable manner
-According to Erickson’s theory in each stage of
Super ego development there is a psychosocial task that is a
• Sigmund Freud
- the judicial structure of the personality that holds all person must master to feel a sense of competence.

- rose to fame for his unconventional stance at that the internalized moral standards and ideals that are -he is known for coining the term “identity crisis.”

time that all cognitive processes are unconscious. acquired from relationships, environment, and society.

Freud’s radical view thus sparked change in how - sense of right & wrong, guidelines for judgments
• Eric Fromm

humans understand and think about themselves. - two parts the ego ideal and conscience ego -suggested personality problems can be traced to
-Ego ideal rules & standards of good behavior learned from parents
conflicts between human needs & societal demands

-Conscience ego leaves room for self-evaluation & criticism is ruled -His theories emphasis on social and cultural
by a reward & punishment system. Responsible for the sense of guilt
one feels when acting wrongly influence on human personality.