The
Copernican Principle is the
philosophical statement that no "special"
observers should be proposed. The term originated in the
paradigm shift from the
Aristotelian model[?] of the heavens, which placed the
Earth at the
center of the
Solar system because it appears that everything revolved around the Earth.
Nicolaus Copernicus demonstrated that the Earth is not, in fact, in the center of the system and the motion of the heavens can be explained without assuming that we are observing from a special position.
Compare with the anthropic principle.