Scientific and Intellectual Revolutions

• The Scientific Revolution laid the foundation for the Age of Enlightenment.
• The Scientific Revolution is also known as the Intellectual Revolution.

The Age of Enlightenment

• In Europe during the 18th century, many writers and thinkers started questioning established beliefs and turned to reason and scientific proof.
• This period saw the rise of the idea that everyone is of equal value and has equal rights.

The Scientific Revolution

• It was a series of events marking the beginning of modern science during the early modern period.
• Developments in mathematics, physics, astronomy, biology, and chemistry changed views on nature.

Characteristics of the Scientific Revolution

• It includes large-scale, unpredictable, and unique discoveries and ideas.
• It stems from a scientific viewpoint and causes significant change or creation.
• Involves the reconfiguration of practices, beliefs, habits, standards, goals, and methods, impacting both scientists and society members.
• Regarded as paradigm shifts.

Paradigm Shift - Kuhn Cycle

• Pre-science turns to normal science.
• Normal science faces a model drift, leading to model crisis, model revolution and eventually a paradigm change.

Aristotle

• Aristotle (384-322 BC) was a famous and influential Greek philosopher.
• For nearly 1000 years, his view of a stationary Earth at the center of a revolving universe prevailed.
• His philosophy has greatly influenced nearly every form of knowledge in the West.
• Believed Earth was stationary and that the planets and the Sun orbited Earth.
• There were no signs that Earth was in motion; no perpetual wind, and a ball thrown straight up didn't land behind the thrower.
• The Earth had to be stationary with the planets, the Sun, and a fixed dome of stars rotating around it.

Claudius Ptolemy

• Claudius Ptolemy was born in Egypt in 100 AD.
• He was a mathematician, astronomer, and geographer.
• Ptolemy placed the Earth at the center of his geocentric model.
• The moon orbits closest to Earth, followed by Mercury, then Venus, and then the Sun.
• Beyond the Sun, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn orbit the Earth.
• The outermost sphere contained all the stars in the 48 constellations described by Ptolemy.
• Ptolemy mathematically refined Aristotle's model in his work Almagest.
• The epicycle-deferent system explains retrograde motion (the apparent backward movement of planets).
• Epicycle: A small circular orbit on which a planet moves.
• Deferent: A larger circular orbit centered on the Earth.
• Ptolemy's model was complex yet accurate enough to predict planetary positions, making it the dominant astronomical system for over 1,400 years.

Nicolaus Copernicus

• Nicolaus Copernicus (1473–1543) revolutionized astronomy by proposing the heliocentric (Sun-centered) model of the universe.
• This challenged the long-standing geocentric (Earth-centered) model of Aristotle and Ptolemy.

Key Aspects of Heliocentric Model

• The Sun is the center
• Planets orbit the Sun
• The Earth rotates on its axis
• Retrograde motion is an illusion.
• Larger orbits mean longer years

Resistance to the Heliocentric Model

• The Catholic Church and Protestant leaders opposed heliocentrism due to its contradiction of Biblical interpretations.
• The Bible stated that the Sun stood still, implying it moved around the Earth.
• Most scholars followed Aristotle and Ptolemy, believing Earth was stationary due to the lack of observable stellar parallax.

How Heliocentrism Was Eventually Accepted

• Johannes Kepler refined Copernicus' model, stating that planets move in elliptical, not circular, orbits.
• This improved accuracy and eliminated the need for epicycles.
• Galileo's telescopic observations of the moons of Jupiter showed that celestial bodies could orbit something other than Earth.
• Phases of Venus proved Venus orbits the Sun, which contradicted the geocentric model.
• Sunspots & Moon Craters challenged the idea that heavenly bodies were perfect.
• Isaac Newton mathematically explained planetary motion, showing that gravity governed orbits.
• His work in Principia Mathematica provided a solid physical foundation for heliocentrism.
• By the 18th century, heliocentrism was widely accepted in scientific circles.
• In 1822, the Catholic Church lifted its ban on heliocentric books.
• The discovery of stellar parallax (1838) provided final observational proof.
• Stellar parallax is the apparent shift in the position of a star when viewed from different points in Earth's orbit around the Sun.

The Problem Psychoanalysis Aims to Solve

• Lack of Understanding of Mental Illness.
• Many psychological disorders like hysteria, neurosis, and phobias had no clear medical explanation.
• Patients exhibited symptoms like paralysis, anxiety, and depression with no physical cause.
• Ineffective Treatments.
• Traditional approaches included asylums, physical restraints, and harsh medical treatments like bloodletting and electrotherapy.
• Understanding Human Behavior.

Existing Views Before Freud's Psychoanalysis

• Spiritual and Religious Explanations.
• Mental illnesses were often seen as demonic possession or moral weakness.
• Treatments included exorcisms, prayer, or isolation in monasteries.
• Early Medical and Biological Models.
• Hippocrates proposed the Four Humors Theory, mental illness resulted from imbalances in bodily fluids(blood, phlegm, yellow bile, black bile).
• Philosophical Psychology.
• John Locke and other Enlightenment thinkers viewed the mind as a blank slate (Tabula Rasa) shaped by experiences.
• Immanuel Kant suggested the mind had innate structures, influencing later psychological theories.

Freud's Psychoanalysis

• Freud's psychoanalysis is a theory and method for understanding the human mind.
• His work shaped ideas about the unconscious mind, dreams, personality, and mental disorders.

Three Levels of Mind

• Conscious: includes thoughts that you are aware of.
• Preconscious: involves thoughts that can be brought into awareness.
• Unconscious: encompasses deep-seated desires, fears, and memories.

Tripartite Personality

• Id: the primitive, instinctual part driven by pleasure.
• Ego: the rational self balancing the id's desires with reality.
• Superego: the moral conscience, shaped by societal and parental influences.

Psychosexual Stages of Development

• Sigmund Freud proposed that personality develops through five psychosexual stages, each focusing on a different body part that provides pleasure.
• Oral Stage (0-1 year) – Mouth.
• Babies find pleasure in sucking and tasting, and builds trust and comfort.
• Fixation: Can lead to nail-biting, smoking, overeating, or being too dependent on others.
• Anal Stage (1-3 years) – Toilet Training.
• Focuses on controlling bladder and bowel movements.
• Fixation:
  • Strict training causes orderly, perfectionist (Anal retentive) behavior.
  • Lenient training causes messy, careless behavior (Anal expulsive).
• Phallic Stage (3-6 years) – Gender Identity.
• Children become aware of gender differences.
• Oedipus Complex (boys) causes attraction to mother and rivalry with father.
• Electra Complex (girls) causes attraction to father.
• Fixation: can cause relationship issues or insecurity in adulthood.
• Latency Stage (6-12 years) – Social Growth.
• Sexual energy is dormant, shift focuses to friendships, school, and hobbies.
• This develops social and communication skills.
• Fixation can lead to immaturity and difficulty in relationships.
• Gential stage (12+ years) - Relationships
  • Puberty brings mature sexual attraction, balancing desires with social norms.
  • Success leads to healthy relationships and emotional maturity.
  • Fixation can cause relationship difficulties later in life.

How This Theory Explains Personality

• Unresolved conflicts in any stage lead to fixations that shape adult personality traits.
• The theory suggests that early childhood experiences play a vital role in shaping who we become.

The Impact of the Freudian Revolution

• Shift from Biological to Psychological Causes of Mental Illness.
• Before Freud, mental disorders were attributed to physical causes.
• Freud introduced the idea that mental illnesses could arise from unresolved psychological conflicts.
• Influence on Literature, Art, and Society.
• Freud's ideas about the unconscious influenced modern literature, film, and surrealist art.
• Modern Psychology and Psychiatry.
• His theories led to the development of psychotherapy.
• Influencing later approaches like humanistic therapy with Carl Rogers, cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), and psychodynamic therapy.