“The Unity of Science and Art”, Lecture 1
One of the greatest persona’s of XVII century Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel a German philosopher, revolutionized European philosophy with his historicist and idealist account of the total reality as a whole (2) believed that there are no fixed values. On the other hand, Schopenhauer (1818, Buddhist, Hindu) believed that world is suffering caused by a constant desire. In Buddhism reaching nirvana is to desire nothing, as when you desire something it causes pain.
After French Revolution (1820s) there were wide reactions on defeat of Napoleon and that is when all theories and set values went back to basics (1830-Greek type of churches, repressed society).
In 1848 Europe was flooded with another numerous revolutions. And soon after in 1859 in science another magnificent mind in human’s history, Charles Darwin (1809–1882), a “British naturalist and writer, best known as the originator of the theory of biological evolution by natural selection” (1), led on to revolutionary discoveries that changed the world for ever. From his Origin of Species we now know that 3mln years ago world was ruled by Homo Erectus, "an extinct species that originated in Africa and spread as far as China and Java about 1.8 to 1.3 million years ago" (3), and Homo sapiens (Latin: "wise man" or "knowing man") come from the great ape family and are the beginning of humans. Evidence indicates that modern humans originated in Africa about 200,000 years ago. (4)
“The closest living relatives of humans are gorillas and chimpanzees, but humans did not evolve from these apes: instead these apes share a common ancestor with modern humans (...) ‘after 6.5 [million] years of separate evolution, the differences between chimpanzee and human are ten times greater than those between two unrelated people and ten times less than those between rats and mice’, suggested concurrence between human and chimpanzee DNA sequences range between 95% and 99%.“ (4)
In 14 March 1879 Albert Einstein the father of modern physics, “theoretical physicist, philosopher and author who is widely regarded as one of the most influential scientists and intellectuals of all time”, brought further developments in the world of science. “Einstein is best known for his theories of special relativity and general relativity. (...) He received the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics for his services to Theoretical Physics, and especially for his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect.” (1)
Along with all greatest minds of human’s history, Nietzsche was an important figure from Copernicus vision, introducing new theories. Friedrich Nietzsche was not very well known in England until the post war period. He influenced all aspects of life.
1880s was taken over by a Contemporary Modernism, in time of world Revolutions and birth of tragedy people started to contemplate beyond Good and Evil and revolutionise of all values began.
It these times, one of the greatest scientists, a polish pride, Nicolaus Copernicus, who was “the first astronomer to formulate a comprehensive heliocentric cosmology, which displaced the Earth from the center of the universe”(1), leads a chain of significant changes to the world’s history.
The University of Winchester Journalism Course
History and Context of Journalism, Part IV, Lecture1
1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Einstein
2) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hegel
3) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homo_erectus
4) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homo_sapiens
