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Scientific revolution in western history
Social changes during the Industrial Revolution
The enlightenment period
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In 1838, the term “Sociology,” which is the study of human interaction, was coined by Auguste Comte, and was inspired by the three revolutions. These revolutions include the Scientific Revolution, the Political Revolution, and the Industrial Revolution. The scientific revolution was the emergence of modern science where the development of the scientific method was established, which had reshaped the views of society and nature. This period had began during the Enlightenment period (1650-1800), which facilitated the pace of social change and understanding our world. It was based on positivism, which is an approach to thinking that considers all knowledge and understanding to be based on science, and anti-positivism, which is an approach to thinking that considers all knowledge and understanding to be based on subjectivity. Positivists approach the world with assumptions that science is the main focus and there is no room for our values and opinions, while anti-positivists approach the world with assumptions that go against science and arguing that …show more content…
This period had virtually changed every aspect of life. Moving from an agricultural and rural economy to a capitalist and urban one had left an imprint, one in which included social problems. It had changed family structures, how people made a living, and even peoples thoughts and dreams. The major contribution from this period was the technological and scientific advances and that had been discovered. These advances helped grow the economy, the population, and foreign trade, which helped create a more sustainable lifestyle. However, there were some negative social impacts, such as child labour in factories, pollution, poverty, and increased crime rates. This revolution had ultimately changed how we live our lives and the study of sociology from a micro level to a macro
This essay will explore parallels between the ideas of the scientific revolution and the enlightenment. The scientific revolution describes a time when great changes occurred in the way the universe was viewed, d through the advances of sciences during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The enlightenment refers to a movement that grew out of the new scientific ideas of the revolution that occurred in the late seventeenth to eighteenth century. Although both the scientific revolution and enlightenment encapsulate different ideas, the scientific revolution laid the underlying ideological foundations for the enlightenment movement. A number of parallels exist between the scientific revolution and the Enlightenment; there was a decrease in the belief in authority, there was an increased belief in Darwinism, The importance of science grew as beneficial to society, the ideas of society as better off without scientific and knowledge. The parallels between the scientific revolution and the enlightenment will be explored throughout this essay.
The scientific revolution can be considered one of the biggest turning points in European history. Because of new scientific ideas and theories, a new dawn of thinking and questioning of natural elements had evolved. Scientific revolution thinkers such as Newton, Galileo, and Copernicus all saw nature as unknowable and wanted to separate myths from reality. During the scientific revolution during mid 1500-late 1600s, key figures such as Isaac Newton and Nicolaus Copernicus greatly impacted Europe in terms of astronomical discoveries, scientific methods, and the questioning of God to challenge the church’s teachings.
The scientific revolution was what introduced the way we think based on experimentation, observation and how we apply reasoning to the things we do scientifically. During the scientific revooution this way of thinking brought forward new kinds of thinkers otherwise know as enlgihtentment thinkers. These enlightenment thinkers brought there ideas forward, which helped lead the strive for there independence . this is what led to the beginning of the scientific revolution. The scientific revolution began around the mid 1700s and went all the way through the mid 1800s theses revolutions did not only stay in one place, this was happening globally in Europe, the americans and through out the latin American colonies. You might ask yourself what did they these revolutions have in common ? they all became infulanced by one another and was infinced by the enlightenment thinkers.
The Industrial Revolution was a time of great change and increased efficiency. No more would be goods be produced by sole means of farming and agriculture, but now by the use of machinery and factories. Technology was beginning to increase along with the food supply as well as the population. However, this increase in population would greatly impact the social aspect of that time. Urbanization was becoming much more widespread. Cities were becoming overwhelmingly crowded and there was an increase in disease as well as harsh child labor. Although child labor would be reduced somewhat due to unions, the Industrial Revolution still contained both it’s positive and negative results.
The revolution led to new theories and advances in the social, economic, and science areas which helped change the world in a short period of time. There were both positive and negative effects on society and the economy, but the positive outweighed the negative. Many jobs were created, better and more efficient means of transportation were invented, which allowed new areas to be reached and
The Scientific revolution in the 16th and 17th centuries changed the way that people views the world. Scientific philosophers such as Galileo and Descartes threw out the old teachings of the church and challenged them with new ways of thinking. These men sought to prove that rational thought could prove the existence of God. They also challenged that it was an understanding of a series of rational thoughts, not faith, would bring understanding of how the world worked. Traditional ways of thinking were ultimately challenged by logical and sensible rationale.
Revolution is a change in the already existing system. A revolution is defined more by its results and identified as a revolution after it has started. A revolution brings instant changes that could’ve taken hundreds of years, but began the change automatically. In most political revolutions, violence is usually involved. Examples of this would be the French Revolution and the Russian Revolution. Non political movements that produce revolutionary changes are also termed as revolutions because of such a change they’ve made in history. The Scientific Revolution, the Enlightenment, and the Industrial Revolution are evident towards revolution because of how big of an altar they caused the world.
Sociology emerged from the desire of humans to understand our behaviour. However, throughout the years the way humans behave and believe has been passed through generations; and it was mainly explained in religious terms. The origins of sociology started with the social movements of the late XVIII century such as the French Revolution in 1789 and the subsequent Industrial Revolution in Europe. (Giddens, 1997)
There were many revolutions that happened throughout the world. The one that really shaped modern day society was the Industrial Revolution in Britain during the 18th and 19th centuries. It changed the whole of Britain and would later change the world. Despite the early social problems of child labour and sanitation created by the Industrial Revolution, its long-term social reforms including the Factory Act and the Public Health Act outweighed the short-term issues encountered. All over Britain, new factories were being built and with them, the demand for workers increased.
Auguste Comte (Newman 2010) pointed out the need to keep society unified as many traditions were diminishing. He created the term sociology. Auguste Comte suggests that sociology is the product of a three-stage development.
The revolution brought about many radical changes and ideas that helped to strengthen it and the scientists that helped to bring it about became significant persons in history. "The emergence of a scientific community is one of the distinguishing marks of the Scientific Revolution."2 It was this form of community that gave a foundation for open thinking and observing throughout the sixteenth century and through twenty-first century. It was the first revolution that had more of a dedication to the ongoing process of science than of a goal to achieve scientific knowledge.3
In conclusion, the scientific revolution brought dramatic change in the way people lived their lives, and it certainly influenced eighteenth century free-thinking. The scientific method was comprehensively utilized during the eighteenth century to study human behavior and societies. It enabled scientist and scholars alike to exercise their freedom of rationality so they could come to their own conclusions about religion and humanity as a whole. They could finally do so without having to defer to the dictates of established authorities.
The Scientific Revolution, perhaps one of the most significant examples of human beingsí relationship with the natural world, changed the way seventeenth and eighteenth century society operated. The power of human knowledge has enabled intellectual, economical, and social advances seen in the modern world. The Scientific Revolution which included the development of scientific attitudes and skepticism of old views on nature and humanity was a slow process that spanned over a two century period. During the Scientific Revolution, scientific knowledge enabled humans to control nature in order to improve society. With leaders such as Nicolaus Copernicus, Galileo Galilei, Francis Bacon, Isaac Newton, and Rene Descartes, the Scientific Revolution proves to be a crucial piece to the puzzle of understanding the effects of humansí interactions with the natural world.
The early developments of sociology date back to the late eighteen hundreds and early nineteen hundreds. Sociology’s development was driven by a shift in three main factors; social, economics and politics. All the major philosophers in the early years of sociology thought about the great transformation from “simple, preliterate societies to massive, complex, industrial societies” (Asanet.org, 2014). This paper will discuss and evaluate how the Industrial revolution, French revolution and the dissolution of feudal social order to influenced the creation of sociology as an academic discipline.