Comparative Revolutions: Scientific, Englightenment, French
The Scientific Revolution, the Enlightenment, and the French Revolution exemplify radical movements to change traditional views on science, reason, faith, philosophy, and politics. The three differ in what they change but are very similar in the revolutionary force of their missions.
The Scientific Revolution changed views on religious faith and reason by the trend that defined it: secularization. This trend separated state power and science from religious faith, making faith a matter of private opinion. Because of this trend, the a priori assertions that the Church had made in the fields of science could be questioned. Great minds like Copernicus, Brahe, and Kepler subsequently challenge the Ptolemaic (heliocentric and epicycle-dependent) theory of the universe. Copernicus argued for heliocentrism, Brahe made his own instruments to observe a new star (1572) and a comet (1577), undermining the view that the universe is unchanging; and Kepler used his three laws of planetary motion to argue against both geocentrism and epicycles. Next, Galileo built his own telescope and claimed to see imperfect, heliocentric celestial spheres. Yet opposition from the church still existed. Galileo was forced to recant in 1633, and Giordano Bruno was burned at the stake by the Catholic inquisition for teaching heliocentrism. Nonetheless, scientific advancements continued. Andreas Vesalius and Paracelsus, a Flemish scientist and German physician respectively, argued against the long-held medical teachings of Galen, an ancient Greek. Paracelsus went as far as to burn Galen’s text publically. Finally, Descartes and Bacon give rise to the scientific method with their respective focuses on deductive and inductive reasoning. Thus, the Scientific Revolution, riding the coattails of the Protestant Reformation, radically changed how reason and faith expressed themselves in the public sphere. This revolution lives on in the scientific method.
Likewise, the Enlightenment revolutionized the pursuit of knowledge and social reform. Accordingly, Kant summed up the Enlightenment’s ideals in two words: sapere aude, or dare to know. In line with this ideal, the Enlightenment’s philosophes attacked superstition, bigotry, and religious fanaticism, deeming them obstacles to free thought and social reform. Even though universities were largely unreceptive to Enlightenment teachings, pamphlets and printed books strewn with Enlightenment philosophy spread like wildfire. Women came to have a place in intellectual discourse. Most notable among Enlightenment women are Marie Thérèse Geoffrin and Émile de Châtelet. The latter heavily influenced Voltaire, whose 1764 Philosophical Dictionary attacked most of the claims of Christianity—a very taboo thing to do, as evidenced by the fact that French authorities publicly burned the work. Geoffrin is famous for organizing salons or private gatherings for intellectual conversation. Other women soon followed suit and organized their own salons. Thus, the Enlightenment revolutionized women’s role in intellectual affairs, though it hardly burgeoned their public status. Political reformers soon arose: abolitionists petition for an end to slavery, Adam Smith argues for laissez-faire government rule, and Rousseau argues that only a government based on a social contract between the people can make free citizens. Other thinkers begin to contradict one another’s arguments: Kant’s idealism, for instance, goes against John Locke’s empiricism.
Finally, the French Revolution radically shifted the political emphasis of its day to liberty. Robespierre—the head of the council on public safety—began executing Frenchmen whom he deemed public threats. As his list of enemies augmented, so did the number of daily killings. The key difference between this revolution and the Scientific Revolution and Enlightenment is that its pendulum swung too far. The culture could not handle the killings in the name of liberty, so the unsupported revolution ultimately came to an end. Its principal ideal of liberty of course lives on, but the method of implementing that liberty brought the French revolution to a disastrous state.
These movements survive in their remnants: the scientific method, the practice of questioning existing systems, and the political focus on liberty and natural rights. Though these three differ in what they revolutionize, each is revolutionary in its own respect.