How to Cite

Freyberg, Sascha and Omodeo, Pietro Daniel: Die Copernicanische Revolution als Geschichtszeichen: Zur Entstehung der Transformationskosmologie, in König, Peter and Schlaudt, Oliver (Eds.): Kosmos: Vom Umgang mit der Welt zwischen Ausdruck und Ordnung, Heidelberg: Heidelberg University Publishing, 2023, p. 143–196. https://doi.org/10.17885/heiup.857.c15256

Identifiers (Book)

ISBN 978-3-96822-093-2 (PDF)
ISBN 978-3-96822-094-9 (Hardcover)

Published

01/12/2023

Authors

Sascha Freyberg, Pietro Daniel Omodeo

Die Copernicanische Revolution als Geschichtszeichen: Zur Entstehung der Transformationskosmologie

Abstract This paper addresses the question of how cosmology and history, as well as science and mythopoiesis, are related to each other. The symbolic significance of Copernicus’ astronomical “revolution” from the early modern period until today illustrates the orientational function of cosmology and its role between empiricism and theory, natural science and society. The cosmological aspect of the Copernican revolution can become re-readable as a “sign of history” in Kant’s sense, insofar as it emphasizes the reference to transformation processes as such instead of stories of progress or decay. This touches on both methodological and practical, epistemological and political, symbolic and historical-ontolog­ical aspects. From such a general cosmological perspective, the various transformation theories stemming from the natural, cultural, and social sciences can be addressed as dimensions of a common context against the background of the debates about the planetary role of humanity in the Anthropocene. We call this multidimensional view, the mythical and sci­entific beginnings of which in the early modern period are explored here, transformational cosmology.

Keywords Nicolaus Copernicus; Karl Marx; Renaissance; Scientific Revolution; Anthropocene; cosmology; myth; history of science; transfor­mation; transformational cosmology