MODULE 3: INTELLECTUAL REVOLUTIONS AND SOCIETY

This section reviews the intellectual revolutions that changed the way people perceive the
influence of science on society in general. It focuses on three of the most important intellectual
revolutions in history: Copernican, Darwinian, and Freudian. By discussing these intellectual
revolutions in the context of science, technology, and society, the attention of students are drawn
again toward the complex interplay of the various social contexts and the development of
modern science. The section also engages students in a critical analysis of ongoing intellectual
and scientific revolutions, which they may find themselves to be part of.

Intended Learning Outcomes

CONTENT

In the study of the history of science and technology, another important area of interest involves
the various intellectual revolutions across time. In this area, interest lies in how intellectual
revolutions emerged as a result of the interaction of science and technology and of society. It
covers how intellectual revolutions altered the way modern science was understood and
approached.
For this discussion, intellectual revolutions should not be confused with the Greeks' pre-Socratic
speculations about the behavior of the universe. 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. Although there are many
intellectual revolutions, this section focuses on three of the most important ones that altered the
way humans view science and its impacts on society: the Copernican, Darwinian, and Freudian
revolutions. In the words of French astronomer, mathematician, and freemason, Jean Sylvain
Bailley (1976 in Cohen, 1976), these scientific revolutions involved a two-stage process of
sweeping away the old and establishing the new.
In understanding intellectual revolutions, it is worth noting that these revolutions are, in
themselves, paradigm shifts. These shifts resulted from a renewed and enlightened 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.
THE 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 i.e., Ptolemaic model).
Copernicus introduced the heliocentric model in a 40 page outline entitled Commentariolus. He
formalized his model in the 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 model illustrated the Earth, along with other heavenly bodies, to be rotating around the Sun.
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 revolution.
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
explain phenomena in the universe. For his part, Darwin gathered evidence pointing to what is
now known as natural selection, an evolution process by which organisms, including humans,
inherit, develop and adapt traits that favored survival and reproduction. These trale are
manifested in offsprings that are more fit and well-suited to 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 Darwinían Revolution can be likened 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 Darwinían 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 for 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 associations, 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. Scientists working on a 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, then, 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.
EXERCISE 1

INSTRUCTIONS: Aside from the three intellectual revolutions discussed in this section, other
intellectual revolutions also took place across history in many parts of the world, such as in
North America, Asia, Middle East, and Africa. In pairs, research on a particular intellectual
revolution that took place in any of the four geographical locations mentioned. Prepare a five-
slide PowerPoint presentation and report the highlights of your chosen intellectual revolution.
Use the following guide questions for your presentation.
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?