Francis bacon who is

As Dr. The work thus stands in the great tradition of the utopian-philosophical novel that stretches from Plato and More to Huxley and Skinner. In terms of its sci-fi adventure elements, the New Atlantis is about as exciting as a government or university re-organization plan.

But in terms of its historical impact, the novel has proven to be nothing less than revolutionary, having served not only as an effective inspiration and model for the British Royal Society, but also as an early blueprint and prophecy of the modern research center and international scientific community. It is never easy to summarize the thought of a prolific and wide-ranging philosopher.

Yet Bacon somewhat simplifies the task by his own helpful habits of systematic classification and catchy mnemonic labeling. In effect, he dedicated himself to a long-term project of intellectual reform, and the balance of his career can be viewed as a continuing effort to make good on that pledge.

In , while he was still at the peak of his political success, he published the preliminary description and plan for an enormous work that would fully answer to his earlier declared ambitions.

Of the intended six parts, only the first two were completed, while the other portions were only partly finished or barely begun. Consequently, the work as we have it is less like the vast but well-sculpted monument that Bacon envisioned than a kind of philosophical miscellany or grab-bag. It is basically an enlarged version of the earlier Proficience and Advancement of Learning , which Bacon had presented to James in It first appeared in Relatively early in his career Bacon judged that, owing mainly to an undue reverence for the past as well as to an excessive absorption in cultural vanities and frivolities , the intellectual life of Europe had reached a kind of impasse or standstill.

Yet he believed there was a way beyond this stagnation if persons of learning, armed with new methods and insights, would simply open their eyes and minds to the world around them.

This at any rate was the basic argument of his seminal treatise The Proficience and Advancement of Learning , arguably the first important philosophical work to be published in English.

It is in this work that Bacon sketched out the main themes and ideas that he continued to refine and develop throughout his career, beginning with the notion that there are clear obstacles to or diseases of learning that must be avoided or purged before further progress is possible. But the phrase applies to any intellectual endeavor in which the principal aim is not new knowledge or deeper understanding but endless debate cherished for its own sake.

What is needed — and this is a theme reiterated in all his later writings on learning and human progress — is a program to re-channel that same creative energy into socially useful new discoveries. In many respects this idea was his single greatest invention, and it is all the more remarkable for its having been conceived and promoted at a time when most English and European intellectuals were either reverencing the literary and philosophical achievements of the past or deploring the numerous signs of modern degradation and decline.

Indeed, while Bacon was preaching progress and declaring a brave new dawn of scientific advance, many of his colleagues were persuaded that the world was at best creaking along towards a state of senile immobility and eventual darkness. That history might in fact be progressive , i. In the Advancement , the idea is offered tentatively, as a kind of hopeful hypothesis. But in later works such as the New Organon , it becomes almost a promised destiny: Enlightenment and a better world, Bacon insists, lie within our power; they require only the cooperation of learned citizens and the active development of the arts and sciences.

Evidently Bacon believed that in order for a genuine advancement of learning to occur, the prestige of philosophy and particularly natural philosophy had to be elevated, while that of history and literature in a word, humanism needed to be reduced.

Meanwhile, poesy the domain of everything that is imaginable or conceivable is set off to the side as a mere illustrative vehicle. This notion of surpassing ancient authority is aptly illustrated on the frontispiece of the volume containing the New Organon by a ship boldly sailing beyond the mythical pillars of Hercules, which supposedly marked the end of the known world.

The New Organon is presented not in the form of a treatise or methodical demonstration but as a series of aphorisms, a technique that Bacon came to favor as less legislative and dogmatic and more in the true spirit of scientific experiment and critical inquiry. Bacon points out that recognizing and counteracting the idols is as important to the study of nature as the recognition and refutation of bad arguments is to logic. Thus a Baconian idol is a potential deception or source of misunderstanding, especially one that clouds or confuses our knowledge of external reality.

Bacon identifies four different classes of idol. Each arises from a different source, and each presents its own special hazards and difficulties. These are the natural weaknesses and tendencies common to human nature. Because they are innate, they cannot be completely eliminated, but only recognized and compensated for. Unlike the idols of the tribe, which are common to all human beings, those of the cave vary from individual to individual.

They arise, that is to say, not from nature but from culture and thus reflect the peculiar distortions, prejudices, and beliefs that we are all subject to owing to our different family backgrounds, childhood experiences, education, training, gender, religion, social class, etc. Examples include:. Like the idols of the cave, those of the theatre are culturally acquired rather than innate.

And although the metaphor of a theatre suggests an artificial imitation of truth, as in drama or fiction, Bacon makes it clear that these idols derive mainly from grand schemes or systems of philosophy — and especially from three particular types of philosophy:. According to Bacon, his system differs not only from the deductive logic and mania for syllogisms of the Schoolmen, but also from the classic induction of Aristotle and other logicians. As Bacon rightly points out, one problem with this procedure is that if the general axioms prove false, all the intermediate axioms may be false as well.

In effect, each confirmed axiom becomes a foothold to a higher truth, with the most general axioms representing the last stage of the process. Thus, in the example described, the Baconian investigator would be obliged to examine a full inventory of new Chevrolets, Lexuses, Jeeps, etc.

When his father died in , he returned to England. Bacon's small inheritance brought him into financial difficulties and since his maternal uncle, Lord Burghley, did not help him to get a lucrative post as a government official, he embarked on a political career in the House of Commons, after resuming his studies in Gray's Inn. In he entered the Commons as a member for Cornwall, and he remained a Member of Parliament for thirty-seven years.

He was admitted to the bar in and in was elected as a reader at Gray's Inn. His involvement in high politics started in , when he wrote his first political memorandum, A Letter of Advice to Queen Elizabeth. Right from the beginning of his adult life, Bacon aimed at a revision of natural philosophy and—following his father's example—also tried to secure high political office.

Very early on he tried to formulate outlines for a new system of the sciences, emphasizing empirical methods and laying the foundation for an applied science scientia operativa.

This twofold task, however, proved to be too ambitious to be realized in practice. Bacon's ideas concerning a reform of the sciences did not meet with much sympathy from Queen Elizabeth or from Lord Burghley.

Small expectations on this front led him to become a successful lawyer and Parliamentarian. From to the year he entered the House of Lords he was an active member in the Commons. Supported by Walsingham's patronage, Bacon played a role in the investigation of English Catholics and argued for stern action against Mary Queen of Scots. He served on many committees, including one in which examined recusants; later he was a member of a committee to revise the laws of England.

He was involved in the political aspects of religious questions, especially concerning the conflict between the Church of England and nonconformists. In a tract of , he tried to steer a middle course in religious politics; but one year later he was commissioned to write against the Jesuit Robert Parson Jardine and Stewart , p. From the late s onwards, Bacon turned to the Earl of Essex as his patron. During this phase of his life, he particularly devoted himself to natural philosophy.

He clearly expressed his position in a famous letter of to his uncle, Lord Burghley:. I confess that I have as vast contemplative ends, as I have moderate civil ends: for I have taken all knowledge to be my province; and if I could purge it of two sorts of rovers, whereof the one with frivolous disputations, confutations, and verbosities, the other with blind experiments and auricular traditions and impostures, hath committed so many spoils, I hope I should bring in industrious observations, grounded conclusions, and profitable inventions and discoveries; the best state of that province.

This, whether it be curiosity, or vain glory, or nature, or if one take it favourably philanthropia, is so fixed in my mind as it cannot be removed. And I do easily see, that place of any reasonable countenance doth bring commandment of more wits than of a man's own; which is the thing I greatly affect.

Bacon —74, VIII, In Bacon fell out favor with the queen on account of his refusal to comply with her request for funds from Parliament. Although he did not vote against granting three subsidies to the government, he demanded that these should be paid over a period six, rather than three, years.

Bacon's patron, the Earl of Essex, for whom he had already served as a close political advisor and informer, was not able to mollify the queen's anger over the subsidies; and all Essex's attempts to secure a high post for Bacon attorney-general or solicitor-general came to nothing.

Nevertheless, the queen valued Bacon's competence as a man of law. He was involved in the treason trial of Roderigo Lopez and later on in the proceedings against the Earl of Essex.

In his contribution to the Gesta Grayorum the traditional Christmas revels held in Gray's Inn of —5, Bacon had emphasized the necessity of scientific improvement and progress. Since he failed to secure for himself a position in the government, he considered the possibility of giving up politics and concentrating on natural philosophy.

It is no wonder, then, that Bacon engaged in many scholarly and literary pursuits in the s. His letters of advice to the Earl of Rutland and to the Earl of Essex should be mentioned in this context.

The advice given to Essex is of particular importance because Bacon recommended that he should behave in a careful and intelligent manner in public, above all abstaining from aspiring to military commands. Bacon also worked in this phase of his career for the reform of English law. In his first book was published, the seminal version of his Essays , which contained only ten pieces Klein b.

His financial situation was still insecure; but his plan to marry the rich widow Lady Hatton failed because she was successfully courted by Sir Edward Coke. In Bacon was unable to sell his reversion of the Star Chamber clerkship, so that he was imprisoned for a short time on account of his debts.

His parliamentary activities in —98, mainly involving committee work, were impressive; but when the Earl of Essex in took command of the attempt to pacify the Irish rebels, Bacon's hopes sank.

Essex did not solve the Irish question, returned to court and fell from grace, as Bacon had anticipated he would. He therefore lost a valuable patron and spokesman for his projects.

Bacon tried to reconcile the queen and Essex; but when the earl rebelled against the crown in , he could do nothing to help him. The queen ordered Bacon to participate in the treason trial against Essex. In Bacon sat in Elizabeth's last parliament, playing an extremely active role.

Bacon looked forward to the next reign and tried to get in contact with James VI of Scotland, Elizabeth's successor. During James' reign Bacon rose to power.

He was knighted in and was created a learned counsel a year later. He took up the political issues of the union of England and Scotland, and he worked on a conception of religious toleration, endorsing a middle course in dealing with Catholics and nonconformists. Bacon married Alice Barnhem, the young daughter of a rich London alderman in One year later he was appointed Solicitor General.

He was also dealing with theories of the state and developed the idea, in accordance with Machiavelli, of a politically active and armed citizenry. In Bacon became clerk of the Star Chamber; and at this time, he made a review of his life, jotting down his achievements and failures. Though he still was not free from money problems, his career progressed step by step. In the period from to Bacon was not only busy within English politics.

He also created the foundations of his philosophical work by writing seminal treatises which prepared the path for the Novum Organum and for the Instauratio Magna. In he became Attorney General and began the rise to the peak of his political career: he became a member of the Privy Council in , was appointed Lord Keeper of the Great Seal the following year—thus achieving the same position as his father—and was granted the title of Lord Chancellor and created Baron of Verulam in In , however, Bacon, after being created Viscount of St Alban, was impeached by Parliament for corruption.

He fell victim to an intrigue in Parliament because he had argued against the abuse of monopolies, indirectly attacking his friend, the Duke of Buckingham, who was the king's favorite. In order to protect Buckingham, the king sacrificed Bacon, whose enemies had accused him of taking bribes in connection with his position as a judge. Bacon saw no way out for himself and declared himself guilty.

His fall was contrived by his adversaries in Parliament and by the court faction, for which he was a scapegoat to save the Duke of Buckingham not only from public anger but also from open aggression Mathews He lost all his offices and his seat in Parliament, but retained his titles and his personal property.

Bacon devoted the last five years of his life—the famous quinquennium—entirely to his philosophical work. He tried to go ahead with his huge project, the Instauratio Magna Scientiarum ; but the task was too big for him to accomplish in only a few years.

Though he was able to finish important parts of the Instauratio , the proverb, often quoted in his works, proved true for himself: Vita brevis, ars longa. He died in April of pneumonia after experiments with ice. Bacon's struggle to overcome intellectual blockades and the dogmatic slumber of his age and of earlier periods had to be fought on many fronts. Very early on he criticized not only Plato, Aristotle and the Aristotelians, but also humanists and Renaissance scholars such as Paracelsus and Bernardino Telesio.

Although Aristotle provided specific axioms for every scientific discipline, what Bacon found lacking in the Greek philosopher's work was a master principle or general theory of science, which could be applied to all branches of natural history and philosophy Klein a.

For Bacon, Aristotle's cosmology, as well as his theory of science, had become obsolete and consequently so too had many of the medieval thinkers who followed his lead. He does not repudiate Aristotle completely, but he opposes the humanistic interpretation of him, with its emphasis on syllogism and dialectics scientia operativa versus textual hermeneutics and the metaphysical treatment of natural philosophy in favor of natural forms or nature's effects as structured modes of action, not artifacts , the stages of which correspond—in the shape of a pyramid of knowledge—to the structural order of nature itself.

On the other hand, Bacon criticized Telesio, who—in his view—had only halfway succeeded in overcoming Aristotle's deficiencies. Although we find the debate with Telesio in an unpublished text of his middle period De Principiis atque Originibus, secundum fabulas Cupidinis et Coelum or On Principles and Origins According to the Fables of Cupid and Coelum , written in ; Bacon V [], — , Bacon began to struggle with tradition as early as In Valerius Terminus ?

He reformulates and functionally transforms Aristotle's conception of science as knowledge of necessary causes. He rejects Aristotle's logic, which is based on his metaphysical theory, whereby the false doctrine is implied that the experience which comes to us by means of our senses things as they appear automatically presents to our understanding things as they are.

Simultaneously Aristotle favors the application of general and abstract conceptual distinctions, which do not conform to things as they exist. Bacon, however, introduces his new conception of philosophia prima as a meta-level for all scientific disciplines. From to Bacon pursued his work on natural philosophy, still under the auspices of a struggle with tradition.

Bacon rediscovers the Pre-Socratic philosophers for himself, especially the atomists and among them Democritus as the leading figure.

He gives preference to Democritus' natural philosophy in contrast to the scholastic—and thus Aristotelian—focus on deductive logic and belief in authorities. Bacon does not expect any approach based on tradition to start with a direct investigation of nature and then to ascend to empirical and general knowledge. His criticism also concerns contemporary technical literature, in so far as it lacks a new view of nature and an innovative methodological program.

Bacon takes to task the ancients, the scholastics and also the moderns. Bacon's manuscripts already mention the doctrine of the idols as a necessary condition for constituting scientia operativa. In Cogitata et Visa he compares deductive logic as used by the scholastics to a spider's web, which is drawn out of its own entrails, whereas the bee is introduced as an image of scientia operativa.

Like a bee, the empiricist, by means of his inductive method, collects the natural matter or products and then works them up into knowledge in order to produce honey, which is useful for healthy nutrition. In Bacon's follow-up paper, Redargutio Philosophiarum , he carries on his empiricist project by referring to the doctrine of twofold truth, while in De Principiis atque Originibus he rejects alchemical theories concerning the transformation of substances in favor of Greek atomism.

But in the same text he sharply criticizes his contemporary Telesio for propagating a non-experimental halfway house empiricism. Bacon's doctrine of the idols not only represents a stage in the history of theories of error Brandt but also functions as an important theoretical element within the rise of modern empiricism. According to Bacon, the human mind is not a tabula rasa.

Instead of an ideal plane for receiving an image of the world in toto, it is a crooked mirror, on account of implicit distortions Bacon IV [], — He does not sketch a basic epistemology but underlines that the images in our mind right from the beginning do not render an objective picture of the true objects. Consequently, we have to improve our mind, i. As early as Temporis partus masculus , Bacon warns the student of empirical science not to tackle the complexities of his subject without purging the mind of its idols:.

On waxen tablets you cannot write anything new until you rub out the old. With the mind it is not so; there you cannot rub out the old till you have written in the new. Farrington , In Redargutio Philosophiarum Bacon reflects on his method, but he also criticizes prejudices and false opinions, especially the system of speculation established by theologians, as an obstacle to the progress of science Farrington , , together with any authoritarian stance in scholarly matters.

In his paragraph on judgment he refers to proofs and demonstrations, especially to induction and invention. When he comes to Aristotle's treatment of the syllogism, he reflects on the relation between sophistical fallacies Aristotle, De Sophisticis Elenchis and the idols Bacon III [], —6.

There is no finding without proof and no proof without finding. The caution he suggests in relation to the ambiguities in elenches is also recommended in face of the idols :. For the mind of man is far from the nature of a clear and equal glass, wherein the beams of things should reflect according to their true incidence, nay, it is rather like an enchanted glass, full of superstition and imposture, if it be not delivered and reduced.

For this purpose, let us consider the false appearances that are imposed upon us by the general nature of the mind …. Bacon III [], —5. Bacon still presents a similar line of argument to his reader in , namely in De Augmentis Book V, Chap.

Judgment by syllogism presupposes—in a mode agreeable to the human mind—mediated proof, which, unlike in induction, does not start from sense in primary objects. The reduction of propositions to principles leads to the middle term. Bacon deals here with the art of judgment in order to assign a systematic position to the idols. The complete doctrine of detection of fallacies, according to Bacon, contains three segments:.

Concerning 1 Bacon praises Aristotle for his excellent handling of the matter, but he also mentions Plato honorably. He focuses his attention on the logical handling when he relates the detection of fallacies of interpretation to the wrong use of common and general notions, which leads to sophisms.

In the last section 3 Bacon finds a place for his idols, when he refers to the detection of false appearances as. IV, In his Preface to the Novum Organum Bacon promises the introduction of a new method, which will restore the senses to their former rank Bacon IV [], 17f. This new beginning presupposes the discovery of the natural obstacles to efficient scientific analysis, namely seeing through the idols, so that the mind's function as the subject of knowledge acquisition comes into focus Brandt , The Idols of the Tribe have their origin in the production of false concepts due to human nature, because the structure of human understanding is like a crooked mirror, which causes distorted reflections of things in the external world.

The Idols of the Cave consist of conceptions or doctrines which are dear to the individual who cherishes them, without possessing any evidence of their truth. These idols are due to the preconditioned system of every individual, comprising education, custom, or accidental or contingent experiences. These idols are based on false conceptions which are derived from public human communication. They enter our minds quietly by a combination of words and names, so that it comes to pass that not only does reason govern words, but words react on our understanding.

According to the insight that the world is a stage, the Idols of the Theatre are prejudices stemming from received or traditional philosophical systems.

These systems resemble plays in so far as they render fictional worlds, which were never exposed to an experimental check or to a test by experience. The idols of the theatre thus have their origin in dogmatic philosophy or in wrong laws of demonstration. He discusses the idols together with the problem of information gained through the senses, which must be corrected by the use of experiments Bacon IV [], Within the history of occidental philosophy and science, Bacon identifies only three revolutions or periods of learning: the heyday of the Greeks and that of the Romans and Western Europe in his own time Bacon IV [], 70ff.

This meager result stimulated his ambition to establish a new system of the sciences. This tendency can already be seen in his early manuscripts, but is also apparent in his first major book, The Advancement of Learning. In this work Bacon presents a systematic survey of the extant realms of knowledge, combined with meticulous descriptions of deficiencies, leading to his new classification of knowledge.

In both texts this function is attributed to philosophia naturalis , the basis for his concept of the unity of the sciences and thus of materialism. Natural science is divided by Bacon into physics and metaphysics. The former investigates variable and particular causes, the latter reflects on general and constant ones, for which the term form is used. Forms are more general than the four Aristotelian causes and that is why Bacon's discussion of the forms of substances as the most general properties of matter is the last step for the human mind when investigating nature.

Metaphysics is distinct from philosophia prima. The latter marks the position in the system where general categories of a general theory of science are treated as 1 universal categories of thought, 2 relevant for all disciplines.

Final causes are discredited, since they lead to difficulties in science and tempt us to amalgamate theological and teleological points of doctrine. At the summit of Bacon's pyramid of knowledge are the laws of nature the most general principles. At its base the pyramid starts with observations, moves on to invariant relations and then to more inclusive correlations until it reaches the stage of forms. The process of generalization ascends from natural history via physics towards metaphysics, whereas accidental correlations and relations are eliminated by the method of exclusion.

It must be emphasized that metaphysics has a special meaning for Bacon. This concept 1 excludes the infinity of individual experience by generalization with a teleological focus and 2 opens our mind to generate more possibilities for the efficient application of general laws.

Bacon's conception of structures in nature, functioning according to its own working method, concentrates on the question of how natural order is produced, namely by the interplay of matter and motion. In De Principiis atque Originibus , his materialistic stance with regard to his conception of natural law becomes evident.

The Summary Law of Nature is a virtus matter-cum-motion or power in accordance with matter theory, or. Bacon V [], Bacon VI [], The natural philosopher is urged to inquire into the. Albans, he was accused of accepting bribes and impeached by Parliament for corruption.

Some sources claim that Bacon was set up by his enemies in Parliament and the court faction, and was used as a scapegoat to protect the Duke of Buckingham from public hostility. Bacon was tried and found guilty after he confessed. He was fined a hefty 40, pounds and sentenced to the Tower of London, but, fortunately, his sentence was reduced and his fine was lifted.

After four days of imprisonment, Bacon was released, at the cost of his reputation and his long- standing place in Parliament; the scandal put a serious strain on year-old Bacon's health.

Bacon remained in St. Alban's after the collapse of his political career. Retired, he was now able to focus on one of his other passions, the philosophy of science. From the time he had reached adulthood, Bacon was determined to alter the face of natural philosophy. He strove to create a new outline for the sciences, with a focus on empirical scientific methods—methods that depended on tangible proof—while developing the basis of applied science.

Unlike the doctrines of Aristotle and Plato, Bacon's approach placed an emphasis on experimentation and interaction, culminating in "the commerce of the mind with things. He believed that when approached this way, science could become a tool for the betterment of humankind. Biographer Loren Eisley described Bacon's compelling desire to invent a new scientific method, stating that Bacon, "more fully than any man of his time, entertained the idea of the universe as a problem to be solved, examined, meditated upon, rather than as an eternally fixed stage upon which man walked.

During his young adulthood, Bacon attempted to share his ideas with his uncle, Lord Burghley, and later with Queen Elizabeth in his Letter of Advice. The two did not prove to be a receptive audience to Bacon's evolving philosophy of science. It was not until , when Bacon published Book One of Novum Organum Scientiarum novum organum is Latin for "new method" , that Bacon established himself as a reputable philosopher of science.

According to Bacon in Novum Organum , the scientific method should begin with the "Tables of Investigation. Next, the "Table of Comparison" allows the observer to compare and contrast the severity or degree of the event.

After completing these steps, the scientific observer is required to perform a short survey that will help identify the possible cause of the occurrence. Unlike a typical hypothesis, however, Bacon did not emphasize the importance of testing one's theory. However, he was unpopular with Elizabeth, and it was only on the accession of James I in that Bacon's career began to prosper.

Knighted that year, he was appointed to a succession of posts culminating, like his father, with keeper of the great seal. However, Bacon's real interests lay in science. Much of the science of the period was based on the work of the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle. While many Aristotelian ideas, such as the position of the earth at the centre of the universe, had been overturned, his methodology was still being used. This held that scientific truth could be reached by way of authoritative argument: if sufficiently clever men discussed a subject long enough, the truth would eventually be discovered.