Historical Contexts of the Emergence of the Social Sciences

Practice flashcards covering the historical periods, key figures, and societal shifts that led to the development of the Social Sciences.

Social Sciences

Systematic, evidence-based, and scientific ways to understand society and human behavior that developed slowly between the 17th and 19th centuries.

The Scientific Revolution

A period during the 16th-17th centuries that introduced empirical observation and the scientific method, shifting knowledge from belief to evidence and testable laws.

Scientific Method

The idea that knowledge should be based on evidence and testable laws rather than belief.

Nicolaus Copernicus

A thinker who proposed the heliocentric theory, stating that the Earth revolves around the Sun.

Heliocentric theory

The scientific theory proposed by Nicolaus Copernicus that the Earth revolves around the Sun.

Galileo Galilei

A scientist who used telescopes and observation to support scientific discoveries about the universe.

Isaac Newton

The scholar who developed the laws of motion and gravity, explaining the movement of physical objects.

The Enlightenment

Also known as the "Age of Reason," this 17th-18th century intellectual movement emphasized human reason, logic, and critical thinking over tradition.

John Locke

An Enlightenment thinker who argued that all people possess natural rights, specifically life, liberty, and property.

Voltaire

An Enlightenment philosopher who promoted individual liberty, religious tolerance, and freedom of speech.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

A thinker who believed government should be based on the social contract and the will of the people.

Natural Rights

The Enlightenment concept, advocated by John Locke, including life, liberty, and property.

The Industrial Revolution

An 18th-19th century period that transformed agricultural economies into industrial ones through the use of machines and factories.

Urbanization

The rapid growth of cities and social change caused by people moving from rural areas to find work in factories.

Industrial Revolution Social Problems

Issues that emerged including poverty, child labor, poor working conditions, overcrowded cities, and social inequality.

French and American Revolutions

18th-19th century events that challenged the "divine right of kings" and promoted the idea that power should come from the people.

Divine right of kings

The long-held belief that kings and rulers received their authority from tradition or directly from God.

Colonialism and Global Encounters

A period from the 15th-19th centuries where European powers expanded into Africa, Asia, and the Americas, leading to the study of cultural differences.

Anthropology

A social science discipline that developed from the study of different cultures, languages, and traditions during the period of Colonialism.

Positivism

An intellectual movement that arose in the 19th century.