Describing the Intellectual Breakthroughs in the History of European Culture. The Perspective of Applying New Theoretical Categories in the History of Science

Abstract

The article relates to a method of describing the place of science in the history of culture. Its aim is to show the disintegration of a uniform system of knowledge constructed of the religious and scientific categories that existed from late antiquity to the eighteenth century. This phenomenon is described by means of the categories of “synergy” and “emergent system.” The synergistic actions taken by the religious and political elite for the defense of the Christian society against alleged supporters of Satan – witches – led to the destabilization of the system and the occurrence of unanticipated consequences, such as the emergence of a materialistic and critical science.