Lecture Notes: Francis Bacon (1561-1626)

Francis Bacon, an influential English philosopher, made significant contributions to the fields of science and philosophy, advocating for the advancement of learning through empirical research and inductive reasoning.

Life and Political Career

• Background: Born in London in 1561 to Sir Nicholas Bacon and Lady Anne Cooke.
• Education: Attended Trinity College, Cambridge, at age 12; opposed Aristotelianism.
• Political Career:
  • Briefly worked in France as a diplomat.
  • Served in Parliament for 36 years starting in 1584.
  • Held several key positions under James I, including Solicitor General (1607), Attorney General (1613), and Lord Chancellor (1618).
  • Charged with bribery in 1621, fined, and briefly imprisoned.
  • Retired to focus on literary and philosophical work.

Thought and Writings

Literary Works

• Notably wrote Essayes, combining elegance and complexity in style.
• Strong influence on English prose, despite not writing Shakespeare's plays.

The New Atlantis

• A utopian science-fiction novel depicting Salomon's House, an organized research center.
• Inspired modern research centers and the British Royal Society.

Scientific and Philosophical Works

The Great Instauration

• Proposed a comprehensive reform of learning and organization of knowledge.
• Only parts of the intended six-part project were completed.

The Advancement of Learning

• Argued against the stagnation of European intellectual life due to undue reverence for past traditions.
• Identified three "distempers" (fantastical, contentious, and delicate learning) as obstacles.

The Idols

• Tribe: Innate human tendencies, e.g., sensory deceivability.
• Cave: Individual cultural biases and prejudices.
• Market Place: Misleading language and jargon.
• Theatre: Philosophical systems imitating truth, e.g., Scholasticism.

Induction

• Advocated for a systematic collection of data leading to general truths.
• Criticized for ignoring the role of hypothesis and imagination in science.

Reputation and Cultural Legacy

• Recognized as a Renaissance man, contributing to both arts and sciences.
• Mixed reception over time; praised as a founder of modern scientific thought and criticized for his utilitarian view of nature.
• His work influenced Enlightenment thinkers and remains a topic of debate regarding its implications for science and human progress.

References and Further Reading: Includes works by Adorno, Eiseley, Merchant, and others.

Author Information

David Simpson, DePaul University. Email: [email protected]