The political career of Francis Bacon began in at the age of 20 when he was elected Member of Parliament for Bossiney, Cornwall, in a by-election. In he took his seat in parliament for Melcombe in Dorset, and in for Taunton. He then became MP for Liverpool in ; for Middlesex in ; for Ipswich in , and ; and for Cambridge University in James I succeeded Elizabeth I to the throne of England in Bacon, who had been generally neglected at the court of Queen Elizabeth, became a close aid to the new king.
In the very year of his succession, , James I knighted him. He also served as regent of England for a month in Francis Bacon was a prolific writer. He proposed reformation of all process of knowledge for the advancement of learning divine and human in his work Instauratio Magna The Great Instauration. He divided this work into six parts, imitating the Work of the Six Days of Creation. His literary and religious works include New Atlantis, Essays, The Wisdom of the Ancients, Masculine Birth of Time , a collection of religious meditations and a collection of prayers.
At the time of Francis Bacon and for many centuries before him, science or natural philosophy in Europe was dominated by the works of Aristotle. Most scholars revered Aristotle and their attitude that his theories were unquestionable had led to stagnation in the development of science. In it, Bacon rejected Aristotelian philosophy and came up with his famous Baconian method , which used inductive reasoning to arrive at facts after careful observation of events.
This method was influential upon the development of the scientific method in modern science. Bacon is thus referred to as the father of the scientific method , by which laws of science are discovered by gathering and analysing data from experiments and observations. The Baconian method which was put forward by Francis Bacon in Novum Organum, requires careful, systematic observations to produce quality facts; use of induction to generalize these facts to one or more axioms, taking care not to generalize more than what the facts truly demonstrate; and repeating the process to arrive at a base of knowledge by empirical data.
Many scientists, most notably the famous chemist Robert Boyle , soon used the principles of Bacon to make path breaking discoveries. 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.
Bacon III [], 17—22; V [], —6 and ff. IV [], Bacon's theory of active or even vivid force in matter accounts for what he calls Cupid in De Principiis atque Originibus Bacon V [], —5. Since his theory of matter aims at an explanation of the reality which is the substratum of appearances, he digs deeper than did the mechanistic physics of the 17 th century Gaukroger , —7.
Bacon's ideas concerning the quid facti of reality presuppose the distinction. Gaukroger , This is the point in his work where it becomes obvious that he tries to develop an explanatory pattern in which his theory of matter, and thus his atomism, are related to his cosmology, magic, and alchemy. I … understand [magic] as the science which applies the knowledge of hidden forms to the production of wonderful operations; and by uniting as they say actives with passives, displays the wonderful works of nature.
The fundamental research of Graham Rees has shown that Bacon's special mode of cosmology is deeply influenced by magic and semi-Paracelsian doctrine. For Bacon, matter theory is the basic doctrine, not classical mechanics as it is with Galileo.
Consequently, Bacon's purified and modified versions of chemistry, alchemy, and physiology remain primary disciplines for his explanation of the world. For 2 Bacon conjoins his specific version of Paracelsian cosmic chemistry to Islamic celestial kinematics especially in Alpetragius [al-Bitruji]; see Zinner , The chemical world system is used to support Bacon's explanation of celestial motion in the face of contemporary astronomical problems Rees b, f.
There are thus two sections in Bacon's Instauratio , which imply the modes of their own explanation. Bacon's speculative cosmology and matter theory had been planned to constitute Part 5 of Instauratio Magna. The theory put forward refers in an eclectic vein to atomism, criticizes Aristotelians and Copernicans, but also touches on Galileo, Paracelsus, William Gilbert, Telesio, and Arabic astronomy.
Whereas magia was connected to crafts in the 16 th and 17 th centuries, Bacon's science remains the knowledge of forms in order to transform them into operations. Knowledge in this context, however, is no longer exclusively based on formal proof. Bacon's cosmological system—a result of thought experiments and speculation, but not proven in accordance with the inductive method—presupposes a finite universe, a geocentric plenum, which means that the earth is passive and consists of tangible matter.
The remaining universe is composed of active or pneumatic matter. Ether is explained as the medium in which planets move around the central earth. Air and ether, as well as watery non-inflammable bodies, belong to Bacon's first group of substances or to the Mercury Quaternion. Terrestrial fire is presented as the weak variant of sidereal fire; it joins with oily substances and sulphur, for all of which Bacon introduces the Sulphur Quaternion.
These quaternions comprise antithetical qualities: air and ether versus fire and sidereal fire. The struggle between these qualities is determined by the distance from the earth as the absolute center of the world system. Air and ether become progressively weaker as the terrestrial and sidereal fire grow stronger. The quaternion theory functions in Bacon's thought as a constructive element for constituting his own theory of planetary movement and a general theory of physics.
The diurnal motion of the world system 9 th sphere is driven by sympathy; it carries the heavens westward around the earth. The sidereal fire is powerful and, accordingly, sidereal motion is swift the stars complete their revolution in 24 hours. Since the sidereal fire becomes weaker if it burns nearer to the earth, the lower planets move more slowly and unevenly than the higher ones in this way Bacon, like Alpetragius, accounts for irregular planetary movement without reference to Ptolemy's epicycle theory.
He applies his theory of consensual motion to physics generally e. With quaternion theory we see that, in the final analysis, Bacon was not a mechanist philosopher. Bacon distinguishes between non-spiritual matter and spiritual matter. These spirits are never at rest.
This points towards his inductive procedure and his method of tables, which is a complicated mode of induction by exclusion. It is necessary because nature hides her secrets. There are and can be only two ways of searching into and discovering truth. The one flies from the senses and particulars to the most general axioms, and from these principles, the truth of which it takes for settled and immoveable, proceeds to judgment and to the discovery of middle axioms.
And this way is now in fashion. The other derives axioms from the senses and particulars, rising by gradual and unbroken ascent, so that it arrives at the most general axioms last of all. This is the true way, but as yet untried. Bacon IV [], Through these forms the natural philosopher understands the general causes of phenomena Kargon , His language turned from that of Greek physics to the usage of contemporary chemists.
Only method leads to the knowledge of nature: in Sylva Sylvarum , Century I. These spirits have two different desires: self-multiplication and attraction of like spirits. According to Kargon , 51 :. Bacon's later theory of matter is one of the interaction of gross, visible parts of matter and invisible material spirits, both of which are physically mixed. Spirits interact with matter by means of concoction, colliquation and other non-mechanical chemical processes, so that Bacon's scientific paradigm differs from Descartes' mechanist theory of matter in his Principia Philosophiae , which presupposes res extensa moving in space.
Bacon's theory of matter is thus closely related to his speculative philosophy:. The distinction between tangible and pneumatic matter is the hinge on which the entire speculative system turns.
Rees , ; Paracelsus had already stated that knowledge inheres in the object: see Shell , Bacon's theory of matter in its final version was more corpuscular than atomist Clericuzio , Bacon's particles are semina rerum : they are endowed with powers, which make a variety of motions possible and allow the production of all possible forms. These spirits are constitutive for Bacon's theory of matter. As material, fine substances, composed of particles, combined from air and fire, they can, as we have seen, be either inanimate or animate.
Bacon thus suggests a corpuscular and chemical chain of being:. Organs responsible for these functions, for digestion, assimilation, etc. These functions flow from the spirit's airy-flamy constitution. The spirit has the softness of air to receive impressions and the vigour of fire to propagate its actions. Bacon's speculative system is a hybrid based on different sources which provided him with seminal ideas: e.
In his theory he combines astronomy, referring to Alpetragius see Dijksterhuis , —43; Rees and Upton , 26; Gaukroger, , —5; and see Grant , —66, for discussion of the cosmology of Alpetragius , and chemistry Rees a, 84—5 :. Rees b, Bacon had no explanation for the planetary retrogressions and saw the universe as a finite and geocentric plenum, in which the earth consists of the two forms of matter tangible and pneumatic. The earth has a tangible inside and is in touch with the surrounding universe, but through an intermediate zone.
This zone exists between the earth's crust and the pure pneumatic heavens; it reaches some miles into the crust and some miles into air. Terrestrial fire is a weakened form of sidereal fire.
Air and ether loose power when terrestrial and sidereal fires grow more energetic—Bacon's sulphur and mercury are not principles in the sense of Paracelsus, but simply natural substances. The Paracelsian principle of salt is excluded by Bacon and the substance, which plays a role only in the sublunary realm, is for him a compound of natural sulphur and mercury Rees and Upton , Bacon used his quaternion theory for his cosmology, which differs greatly from other contemporary systems Rees , 68 :.
Bacon, who tried to conceive of a unified physics, rejected different modes of motion in the superlunary and in the sublunary world Bacon I [], He did not believe in the existence of the crystalline spheres nor in the macrocosm-microcosm analogy. He revised Paracelsian ideas thoroughly. He rejected the grounding of his theories in Scripture and paid no attention at all to Cabbalistic and Hermetic tendencies Rees b, 90—1.
But he extended the explanatory powers of the quaternions to earthly phenomena such as wind and tides. System 2 depends on System 1, since explanations for terrestrial things were subordinated to explanations of the cosmological level. The table of System 2 shows Bacon's matter theory. His quaternion theory is relevant for System 1. Bacon's system is built in a clear symmetrical way: each quaternion has four segments, together eight and there are four types of intermediates.
Thus, the system distinguishes twelve segments in all. He wanted to explain all natural phenomena by means of this apparatus:. Bacon's bi-quaternion theory necessarily refers to the sublunary as well as to the superlunary world. For there is consent between sulphur, oil and greasy exhalation, flame, and perhaps the body of a star. So is there between mercury, water and watery vapors, air, and perhaps the pure and intersiderial ether. Yet these two quaternions or great tribes of things each within its own limits differ immensely in quantity of matter and density, but agree very well in configuration.
Bacon IV [], —3; see also V [], —6; for tables of the two quaternions and Bacon's theory of matter see Rees , , ; Rees , 68—9. Bacon regarded his cosmological worldview as a system of anticipations, which was open to revision in light of further scientific results based on the inductive method Rees b, It was primarily a qualitative system, standing aside from both mathematical astronomers and Paracelsian chemists.
It thus emphasized the priority which he gave to physics over mathematics in his general system of the sciences. Bacon's two quaternions and his matter theory provide a speculative framework for his thought, which was open to the future acquisition of knowledge and its technical application.
His Nova Atlantis can be understood as a text which occupies an intermediate position between his theory of induction and his speculative philosophy Klein c; Price It is important to bear in mind that Bacon's speculative system was his way out of a dilemma which had made it impossible for him to finish his Instauratio Magna. His turn towards speculation can only be interpreted as an intellectual anticipation during an intermediate phase of the history of science, when a gigantic amount of research work was still to be accomplished, so that empirical theories could neither be established nor sufficiently guaranteed.
Speculation in Bacon's sense can therefore be seen as a preliminary means of explaining the secrets of nature until methodical research has caught up with our speculations. This great work remained a fragment, since Bacon was only able to finish parts of the planned outline. After that, Bacon printed the plan of the Instauratio , before he turned to the strategy of his research program, which is known as Novum Organum Scientiarum.
Our steps must be guided by a clue, and see what way from the first perception of the sense must be laid out upon a sure plan. Part 1 contains the general description of the sciences including their divisions as they presented themselves in Bacon's time. This part could be taken from The Advancement of Learning and from the revised and enlarged version De Dignitate et Augmentis Scientiarum Part 2 develops Bacon's new method for scientific investigation, the Novum Organum , equipping the intellect to pass beyond ancient arts and thus producing a radical revision of the methods of knowledge; but it also introduces a new epistemology and a new ontology.
Bacon calls his new art Interpretatio Naturae , which is a logic of research going beyond ordinary logic, since his science aims at three inventions: of arts not arguments , of principles not of things in accordance to principles , and of designations and directions for works not of probable reasons.
The effect Bacon looks for is to command nature in action, not to overcome an opponent in argument. The Novum Organum is the only part of the Instauratio Magna which was brought near to completion. Part 3 was going to contain natural and experimental history or the record of the phenomena of the universe. These functional histories support human memory and provide the material for research , or the factual knowledge of nature, which must be certain and reliable.
Natural history starts from and emphasizes the subtlety of nature or her structural intricacy, but not the complexity of philosophical systems, since they have been produced by the human mind.
Bacon sees this part of Instauratio Magna as a foundation for the reconstruction of the sciences in order to produce physical and metaphysical knowledge. Nature in this context is studied under experimental conditions, not only in the sense of the history of bodies, but also as a history of virtues or original passions, which refer to the desires of matter Rees a.
This knowledge was regarded by Bacon as a preparation for Part 6, the Second Philosophy or Active Science , for which he gave only the one example of Historia Ventorum ; but—following his plan to compose six prototypical natural histories—he also wrote Historia vitae et mortis and the Historia densi , which was left in manuscript. The text, which develops the idea of Part 3, is called Parasceve ad Historiam Naturalem et Experimentalem.
Filum labyrinthi is similar to, but not identical with, Cogitata et Visa. Speaking of himself in an authorial voice, Bacon reflects on the state of science and derives his construction of a research program from the gaps and deficiencies within the system of disciplines: sciences of the future should be examined and further ones should be discovered.
Emphasis must be laid on new matter not on controversies. It is necessary to repudiate superstition, zealous religion, and false authorities. Just as the Fall was not caused by knowledge of nature, but rather by moral knowledge of good and evil, so knowledge of natural philosophy is for Bacon a contribution to the magnifying of God's glory, and, in this way, his plea for the growth of scientific knowledge becomes evident.
Anticipations are ways to come to scientific inferences without recourse to the method presented in the Novum Organum. Meanwhile, he has worked on his speculative system, so that portions of his Second Philosophy are treated and finished: De Fluxu et Refluxu Maris and Thema Coeli.
For this part of the Great Instauration , texts are planned that draw philosophical conclusions from collections of facts which are not yet sufficient for the use or application of Bacon's inductive method.
Part 6 was scheduled to contain Bacon's description of the new philosophy, as the last part of his Great Instauration ; but nothing came of this plan, so that there is no extant text at all from this part of the project.
Already in his early text Cogitata et Visa Bacon dealt with his scientific method, which became famous under the name of induction. When later on he developed his method in detail, namely in his Novum Organum , he still noted that.
I on the contrary reject demonstration by syllogism …. Malherbe , Induction implies ascending to axioms, as well as a descending to works, so that from axioms new particulars are gained and from these new axioms.
The inductive method starts from sensible experience and moves via natural history providing sense-data as guarantees to lower axioms or propositions, which are derived from the tables of presentation or from the abstraction of notions.
Bacon does not identify experience with everyday experience, but presupposes that method corrects and extends sense-data into facts, which go together with his setting up of tables tables of presence and of absence and tables of comparison or of degrees, i.
The last type can be supplemented by tables of counter-instances, which may suggest experiments:. To move from the sensible to the real requires the correction of the senses, the tables of natural history, the abstraction of propositions and the induction of notions.
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.
Bacon challenged this, arguing that truth required evidence from the real world. He published his ideas, initially in 'Novum Organum' , an account of the correct method of acquiring natural knowledge. Bacon's political ascent also continued. In he was appointed lord chancellor, the most powerful position in England, and in he was created viscount St Albans.
Shortly afterwards, he was charged by parliament with accepting bribes, which he admitted. He was fined and imprisoned and then banished from court.
0コメント