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00:00:00 – 00:07:08
In the video, the speaker explores the impact of scientific progress on European thinking in the 18th and 19th centuries, leading to clashes between scientific developments like Charles Darwin's theory of evolution and religious beliefs. The rise of positivism and relativism challenged traditional notions of truth, while modernist philosophers like Nietzsche, Bergson, and Freud emphasized irrationalism over rationalism, highlighting the importance of struggle and conflict in societal progress. Additionally, scientists such as Max Planck disrupted the Newtonian view of atoms with quantum mechanics, revealing a chaotic and unpredictable nature that shattered the idea of a completely ordered universe.
00:00:00
In this part of the video, the speaker discusses the impact of scientific developments on European thinking in the 18th and 19th centuries. Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution caused controversy as it challenged religious beliefs in special creation. The rise of positivism, emphasizing scientific verification for truth, clashed with religious notions based on divine revelation. Positivism led to relativism in moral values, suggesting truth is subjective and varies depending on one’s perspective. The metaphor of blind men describing an elephant illustrates the concept of subjective truth. The clash between scientific advancements and religious beliefs created tension in understanding the world.
00:03:00
In this segment of the video, the focus is on modernism and how it was expressed in philosophy. Philosophers emphasized irrationalism over rationalism, challenging Enlightenment conclusions. Friedrich Nietzsche was a key figure in irrationalism, arguing that human decisions are driven by passions, not reason. Henri Bergson argued that while science is useful for practical knowledge, it falls short in describing the essence of true reality. Sigmund Freud applied irrationalism to psychology, asserting that human behavior is shaped by the subconscious, not rational choices. Freud’s psychoanalysis method traced these links. Overall, these ideas emphasized that societal progress occurs through struggle and conflict, not just rational science.
00:06:00
In this segment of the video, the narrator discusses how scientists in the late 19th and early 20th centuries challenged the prevailing theory of atoms as predictable and structured. Physicist Max Planck’s work in quantum mechanics showed that atoms behave chaotically and unpredictably, contradicting the Newtonian view of a predictable universe. Planck’s discovery of quantum packets of heat disrupted the established understanding of atomic behavior. This revelation essentially shattered the idea of a completely ordered and rational universe.