Seminar/ Colloquium

Title : The Impact of Heliocentric View on the Rise of Anthropocentric View in Humanities.
Speaker : Prof Raghurama Raju, IIT Tirupati.
Date : 09/02/2018, 03:30 PM (Friday), Seminar Hall, First Floor.

Abstract: 

Copernican revolution in science and in the rise of individualism in social realm is often seen as independent of each other.  In this presentation, I will explore the close and complex causal relation between the heliocentric view inaugurated by Copernicus and rise of individualism and anthropocentric view unveiled by Descartes who laid the foundation to the project of modernity. While most of the time the discussion is centred on the shift from the Earth centric world to the Sun centric, I will here highlight the attempts made in the realm of human and social sciences to reclaim centrality in the form of individualism. This is an instance, where what is lost in cosmology is sought to be reclaimed in the social realm. Here, I will also highlight the nature of non-reason in the arguments that governs the rational project of modernity. I will end the presentation by briefly discussing the impact of modernity on Indian society.