Mater Dei College LESSON 3 Learning Module

College of Arts and Sciences, Teacher Education Science, Technology, and Society
General Education Mrs. Sheryl J. Enriquez
__________________________________________________________________________________________

➢ The learners articulate ways by which society is transformed by science and

technology
COURSE LEARNING OUTCOME

➢ Identify the intellectual revolutions that shaped society across time;

➢ Explain how intellectual revolutions transformed the view of society about
dominant scientific thought; and
➢ Describe the technological advancements that happened in the information age.

STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOME

LEARNING CONTENT: INTELLECTUAL REVOLUTIONS AND SOCIETY

I. INTRODUCTION
This lesson reviews the intellectual revolutions that changed the way people perceived 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.
This lesson also encourages students in a critical analysis of ongoing intellectual and scientific
revolutions, which they may find themselves be part of.

II. LESSON CONTENT

The term Intellectual Revolution refers to Greek speculation about the nature in the period before
Socrates (between 600 to 400 BCE). Therefore, experts believe that there are appropriate words for
intellectual revolution and these are pre-Socratic or non-theological or first philosophy.
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
emerge 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 established the new.

In understanding intellectual revolutions, it is worth nothing that these revolutions are, in

themselves, paradigm shifts. These shifts resulted from a renewed enlightened understanding of how

STS 100 | 2T22

 Mater Dei College LESSON 3 Learning Module
College of Arts and Sciences, Teacher Education Science, Technology, and Society
General Education Mrs. Sheryl J. Enriquez
__________________________________________________________________________________________
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 (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.

STS 100 | 2T22

 Mater Dei College LESSON 3 Learning Module
College of Arts and Sciences, Teacher Education Science, Technology, and Society
General Education Mrs. Sheryl J. Enriquez
__________________________________________________________________________________________
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
evolutionary process by which organisms, including
humans, inherit, develop, and adapt traits that favored
survival and reproduction. These traits are manifested
in offspring that are more fir 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 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 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 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 changed 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 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.

STS 100 | 2T22

 Mater Dei College LESSON 3 Learning Module
College of Arts and Sciences, Teacher Education Science, Technology, and Society
General Education Mrs. Sheryl J. Enriquez
__________________________________________________________________________________________

These notions were particularly caught in the crossfire of whether Freud’s psychoanalysis fir in the
scientific study of the brain and mind.

Scientist 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 an 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 myriad of psychological disorders
still remain largely informed by Freud’s work on psychoanalysis.

These three revolutionizing theories are just some of the many scientific ideas that transformed
and molded societies and beliefs. The changes they brought to the perspectives and perceptions of the
scientific community and the public are evidence of science and technology’s link to humanity. Through
scientific research and experimentations, people will continue to deepen their understanding of the world
and the universe.

Week 3 Activity : Answer the following questions in one-half crosswise yellow paper.

1. What do you think were most intellectual ideas controversial? Why?

2. Why did the people accept these new discoveries despite being contradictory to what was widely
accepted at that time?
3. How intellectual revolutions transform societies?

STS 100 | 2T22