Module 1. Unit 3.

Intellectual
Revolutions and Society
Intended Learning Outcomes
1. Identify intellectual revolutions that shaped society across time.
2. Explain how intellectual revolutions transformed the views of
society about science and nature.
3. Discuss how these intellectual revolutions were influenced by
social, political, cultural, or economic contexts.
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.
Jean Sylvain Bailley’s Two-Stage Process
• Stage 1: ‘sweeping away the old’
• Stage 2: ‘establishing the new’
Foci of this unit
• Copernican Revolution
• Darwinian Revolution
• Freudian Revolution
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).
Copernican Revolution
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.
Copernican Revolution
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
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.
Darwinian Revolution
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.
Freudian Revolution
Sigmund Freud is credited for
stirring a 20th 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.
Freudian Revolution
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.
Freudian Revolution
Amidst the controversy, Freud’s
Psychoanalysis is widely given credit
for dominating psychotherapeutic
practice from the early 20th century.
Psychodynamic therapies that treat
a myriad of psychological disorders
remain still largely informed by
Freud’s work on Psychoanalysis.
Group Presentation
✓ Divide the class into three.
✓ Each group will randomly pick one of the three revolutions discussed
in this unit and present a five- to seven-minute freestyle group
presentation that presents the highlights of the scientific revolution
assigned the group.
✓ The group will be given sufficient time to prepare to ensure that the
presentation demonstrates the students’ understanding of the
scientific revolution.
✓ At the same time, it should show the group’s creativity and
teamwork.