Francis Bacon

One of the most influential people in natural philosophy scientific methods during the Renaissance and early modern eras was Francis Bacon (1561-1626). As a lawyer, parliamentarian, and Queen's Counsel, Bacon wrote on legal, political, and state issues as well as current affairs. However, he also published works in which he conjectured on potential social conceptions and considered ethical issues (Essays) alongside his works on the philosophy of nature (The Advancement of Learning).

A Quick Overview

On January 22, 1561, Francis Bacon was born in London. He was the son of Sir Nicholas Bacon, who held Elizabeth I's prestigious seal. After completing his studies at Gray's Inn and Cambridge University, Bacon was elected to the Parliament in 1584. Nevertheless, Bacon was not well-liked by Elizabeth, and his career did not take off until James I's coronation in 1603. That year, he received a knighthood and, like his father, was assigned to a series of positions that culminated in keeper of the great seal.

Following his education at Trinity College, Cambridge, as well as Gray's Inn, London, Bacon attempted to launch a political career rather than accepting a position at a university. Even if his efforts during Queen Elizabeth's reign were not fruitful, he succeeded in rising to the position of Lord Chancellor under James I, the highest political position. During his final years, when he was able to devote all of his energy to his philosophical work, Bacon's fame and influence grew throughout the world. This was especially true shortly after his death when English scientists from the Boyle Circle (Invisible College) adopted his concept of a cooperative research institution into their preparations for founding the Royal Society.

Currently, Bacon's most well-known works are his treatises on empiricist natural philosophy (The Advancement of Learning, Novum Organum Scientiarum), his early writings on the doctrine of the idols, and his description of a modern research institute in Nova Atlantis.

Life and Political Career

A wealthy and well-established family gave birth to Sir Francis Bacon in London in 1561. He would go on to become Lord Verulam, the Viscount St. Albans, and the Lord Chancellor of England. His parents were Lady Anne Cooke, the daughter of Sir Anthony Cooke, a knight and former tutor to the royal family, and Sir Nicholas Bacon, the Lord Keeper of the Seal. In addition to learning Italian and French, Lady Anne also studied Greek and Latin, making her a well-read individual. She was the sister-in-law of Sir William Cecil (later Lord Burghley), Lord Treasurer, main advisor to Elizabeth I, and, from 1572 until 1598, the most powerful man in England. Sir Thomas Hoby was the renowned English translator of Castiglione.

Bacon received his education at home on the Gorhambury family estate in Hertfordshire. He was just twelve when he enrolled in Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1573. There, the stuffy Scholastic curriculum began to incite his lifelong hostility to Aristotelianism (albeit not to Aristotle's writings).

Political Career Journey

At Gray's Inn, Bacon started studying law in 1576. However, he gave up his studies just a year later to accept a job as the ambassador's assistant in the French diplomatic service. His father passed away in 1579 while he was still living in France, leaving him as the youngest of six heirs and the second son of a second marriage, essentially without assistance. He returned to England to continue his legal studies without a job, land, money, or prospects.

After earning his bachelor's degree in law in 1582, Bacon was appointed a lecturer in legal education at Gray's Inn in 1588. Meanwhile, he was chosen to represent Melcombe in Dorsetshire in the Parliament in 1584. For the next thirty-six years, he would continue to serve as the spokesperson for several seats in Parliament.

His direct resistance to a new tax levy in 1593 caused an unfavorable setback to his career aspirations, as the Queen took personal offense at his disapproval. Elizabeth finally gave up and appointed Bacon her Extraordinary Counsel in 1596, but whatever ambitions he had to become Attorney General or Solicitor General under her reign were shattered.

Around this time, Bacon started working for Robert Devereux, the Earl of Essex, a dashing courtier, soldier, intrigue plotter, and occasionally the Queen's favorite. Without question, Bacon saw Essex as a rising talent who could give his flagging career the much-needed jolt. Regretfully, it didn't take long for Essex's fortunes to collapse due to a string of mishandled military and political actions that resulted in a tragic coup attempt.

As the coup attempt failed, Bacon-as Queen's Counsel-played a crucial part in the case against Devereux, who was taken into custody, put on trial, and ultimately put to death.

James I succeeded Elizabeth in 1603, and Bacon's career prospects took a significant turn for the better. He quickly moved up the political ladder after receiving the king's knighthood, and between 1604 and 1618, he held a number of prominent advisory roles:

• 1604 - Appointed King's Counsel.
• 1607 - Named Solicitor General.
• 1608 - Appointed Clerk of the Star Chamber.
• 1613 - Appointed Attorney General.
• 1617 - Appointed Lord Keeper of the Royal Seal (his father's former office).
• 1618 - Made Lord Chancellor.

As Lord Chancellor, Bacon exercised a level of authority and sway that, as a young lawyer vying for promotion, he could never have dreamed of. However, it was during this time, when he was at the height of his glory, that he experienced his great Fall. He was taken into custody and accused of bribery in 1621. He was sentenced to a period in the Tower of London prison and received a hefty fine after entering a guilty plea. Bacon was never permitted to participate in Parliament again or hold political office, even though the punishment was eventually remitted, and he only spent four days in the Tower.

For Bacon personally, the entire incident was a dreadful shame, and it left a disgrace that would damage his good name for years to come. The taking of presents from suppliants in a lawsuit was customary in Bacon's day, as several case chroniclers have noted. It is also accurate that Bacon ultimately decided to rule against both of the petitioners who had made the crucial bribes. Nevertheless, the harm had already been done, and Bacon deserves credit for graciously accepting the verdict against him. He should have known and acted more appropriately, according to his essays or Counsels. (In this regard, it is important to note that Bacon updated and reissued the Essayes throughout his forced retirement, adding even more cunning to a collection already renowned for its political astuteness and worldliness.) In a lengthy article, Macaulay called Bacon a tremendous intellect but also, to paraphrase one of Bacon's letters, a "most dishonest man." Other writers have described Bacon as cold, calculating, haughty. Despite his shortcomings, even his adversaries acknowledged that he accepted his penalty with dignity and moved on throughout his trial.

In the years that remained, Bacon worked tirelessly to complete his lifelong goal of reforming education and forming a society of scholars devoted to the pursuit of scientific knowledge for the "use and benefit of men." On April 9, 1626, the former Lord Chancellor passed away, ostensibly from a cold or pneumonia he had while experimenting with his hypothesis regarding the insulating and preserving qualities of snow.

Bacon's Political Career Falls

Bacon was charged with corruption in 1621. It's thought that Bacon was framed by his political rivals and utilized as a scapegoat. He entered a guilty plea to the accusation of taking bribes. He received a term and a 40,000-pound fine. Thankfully, his punishment was shortened, and his fee was waived. He walked to freedom four days after being imprisoned, sacrificing both his long-standing position in Parliament and his reputation.

Life After Politics

Following the demise of his political career, Bacon retired from public office. He could now devote his attention to philosophy. Since his early years, Bacon has been committed to changing the perception of philosophy. He developed a new framework for the sciences that emphasized empirical scientific methods, which heavily relied on palpable evidence.

His method gave interaction and experimentation a lot of weight, in contrast to many other philosophers. His new scientific method involved gathering information, closely examining it, and conducting experiments to observe natural truths systematically.

Bacon's Greatest Achievements

Considered the founding father of modern science is Francis Bacon. He started a massive overhaul of all knowledge processes. He created a series of inductive and empirical techniques for initiating scientific investigation, which are now collectively referred to as the Baconian approach. He was an innovator of empiricism.

The theoretical and rhetorical framework for science was greatly influenced by Bacon's demand for a planned method of resolving problems in an empiricist, naturalistic manner. In addition, he provided intellectual guidance for the advent of the Industrial Age.

System of Sciences

Bacon (Bacon IV [1901], 70ff.) lists just three revolutions or times of learning in the history of Western Europe and philosophy and science: the heyday of the Greeks, the Romans, and his own time. His desire to create a new scientific system was sparked by this meager outcome.

This propensity is evident in the title of his debut book, The Development of Learning, as well as in his early drafts. This work introduces Bacon's new categorization of knowledge through a methodical examination of the domains of knowledge that now exist, along with detailed assessments of their shortcomings. Philosophia prima is given a new role in The Advancement (Bacon III [1887], 282f.), which is in line with his earlier indications in Novum Organum, I, Aphorisms LXXIX-LXXX (Bacon IV [1901], 78-9) regarding the necessity of philosophy. Philosophia Naturalis, the foundation for his theory of the unification of the sciences and, hence, of materialism, is credited in both texts with serving this purpose.

Bacon separated natural science into two categories: physics and metaphysics. While the latter considers general and constant causes-for which the term "form" is used-the former looks at specific and changeable causes. Since forms are more universal than all four Aristotelian causes, the final stage in the human mind's investigation of nature is to read Bacon's explanation of substances' forms as the universal characteristics of matter. Philosophy primarily differs from metaphysics. The latter represents the place in the framework where general categories of general theories of science are recognized as (1) universal categories of cognition, and (2) appropriate for all disciplines.

Final causes are dismissed since they present problems for science and tempt us to combine teleological and theological doctrinal issues. The most universal principles, or the laws of nature, are at the top of Bacon's pyramid of knowledge. The pyramid begins with observations at the base, progresses to invariant relations, then increasingly comprehensive correlations, and ends with forms.

Generalization proceeds from natural history through physics and metaphysics, whereas exclusion eliminates coincidental linkages and correlations. It is important to note that metaphysics has a particular significance for Bacon. This idea (1) eliminates the infinite possibilities of individual experience through teleological generalization and (2) broadens our thinking to consider other options for the effective application of universal laws.

Thought and Writings

In some ways, Bacon's Fall from political prominence was fortuitous since it signaled his release from the confines of public life and led to a spectacular final flourishing of his creative and scientific output. As noted by Renaissance scholar and authority on Bacon Brian Vickers, despite their outstanding nature, Bacon's earlier writings were mainly the result of his "spare time." The previous five years were the only times he was able to focus solely on writing and creating, save for a few small pieces:

The History of the Reign of King Henry the Seventh The History of the Reign of King Henry the Eighth are two large volumes of history and biography.

His earlier Advancement of Learning was extended into a Latin work called De Augmentis Scientiarum.

The last of his essays, or Counsels, was published in 1625.

The extraordinary Sylva Sylvarum, or A Natural History in Ten Centuries, is an odd collection of scientific tests, firsthand accounts, conjectures, traditional wisdom, and critical debates on subjects ranging from the origins of hiccups to the reasons behind Egypt's drought. The book, which was fictitiously organized into ten "centuries" (ten chapters, each with one hundred elements), was ostensibly meant to be part of Part Three of the Magna Instauratio.

His utopian science-fiction book, The New Atlantis, was released a year after his passing but was never completed.

The incomplete Magna Instauratio, also known as the Great Instauration, comprises several sections, such as the "Natural History of Winds" and the "Natural History of Life and Death."

These final works served as the culmination of a writing career spanning over forty years and a nearly full curriculum of studies in philosophy, science, and literature.

Rejection of Thomism

Philosophy and religion were clearly divided by Bacon, who rejected the possibility of their coexistence. In De Augmentis, he states that "the more discordant, therefore, and incredible, the divine mystery is, the more honor is shown to God in believing it, and the nobler is the victory of faith." Philosophy is grounded in reason, whereas faith is based on revelation and is consequently illogical.

The prospect of learning about the enigmatic domain of the divine via the study of nature is abandoned by Bacon's stark division between the study of nature and the study of the divine. Bacon thus stood in stark contrast to the Thomist tradition.

Death & Legacy

Although Bacon does not appear to have been in good health, he was a notable patient of William Harvey (1578-1657), who discovered that humans have blood circulation. It's possible that Bacon asked Harvey for assistance on how to treat his persistent gout. The two were not friends; Harvey once called Bacon's theory "nonsense" and compared his eyes to those of a viper.

When it came to his health, Bacon was more than happy to accept advice from non-experts. In fact, he had identified medical professionals as being especially prone to accepting remedies at face value without first determining whether or not they truly helped their patients in The Advancement of Learning. Bacon regularly engaged in weekly rhubarb purges and used medicines linked to opium. Since Bacon was an avid gardener who enjoyed strong-scented herbs and flowers as well as cultivating his exotic fruits like pineapples, it's possible that he grew his rhubarb.

Bacon, who was always a practical scientist, passed away on April 9, 1626, in a quite strange way. While filling a goose with snow in the winter fields, the great man, perhaps testing the effectiveness of a new refrigeration technique, ended up with a severe and deadly cold. It took some time for anyone to take an interest in Bacon's theory, but by the middle of the 17th century, his writings had gained widespread traction.

Knowledge

The Aristotelian tradition holds that knowledge that is considered the subject of contemplation is thought to have inherent value, which comes from its source. This kind of knowledge was prized because it was thought to be capable of emancipating (artes liberals; "liberal arts") the human soul from the ordinary world and endowing it with a degree of freedom. Because it was meeting material demands, knowledge for practical objectives and economic rewards (quaestiones rates) was viewed as secondary.

This idea of knowledge was rejected by Bacon, who gave it a pragmatic and practical interpretation. According to Bacon's utilitarian viewpoint, knowledge-that is truth-no longer had an inherent value; rather, its value came from the useful functions it performed. Consequently, Bacon rejected the idea that knowledge might free the human spirit (Artes liberals). One of the key tenets of the modernity concept, according to Bacon, is the importance of utility over knowledge.

Four Idols

Like many contemporary philosophers, Bacon believed in the ideal of impartial knowledge that was unaffected by custom, authority, and interpretation. "The true signatures and marks set upon the works of creation as they are found in nature," according to him, were similar to the concepts of the divine mind (Bacon, IV [1901], 51). According to Bacon, the human mind is not a "tabula rasa" capable of accepting such an accurate perception of reality. Instead, because of the inherent distortions, it resembled a crooked mirror more. Therefore, a person must develop his thinking before attempting to pursue information.

He identified four "Idols" (idola), or typical preconceptions that impede people from having the mental clarity required to find this knowledge:

1. Idols of the Tribe" (idola tribus) are universal because of the flaws in our nature, like our susceptibility to delusion, our propensity for wishful thinking, and our hasty judgment.
2. "Idols of the Cave" (idola species) are the narrow-minded, frequently unquestioned presumptions that someone has picked up from their upbringing, education, gender, class, and culture.
3. "Idols of the Marketplace" (idola fori), derived from the linguistic ambiguities caused by terms for nonexistent objects or ambiguous phrases. It appears that Bacon foresaw Wittgenstein in this way.
4. "Idols of the Theatre" (idola theatri) originate from imaginary realms conjured up by dogmatic philosophy and never put to the test through experimentation. He refers to these as superstitions and cites individuals who base their natural philosophy on Genesis 1:9-10.

Conclusion

Even in the latter phases of the Scientific Revolution, Bacon's writings continued to have an impact. He spearheaded the development of natural philosophy as well as the scientific method. Some have referred to Bacon as the founder of empiricism.

In addition, Francis Bacon contributed to the development of logical induction techniques, which, while less common in contemporary philosophy than deductive reasoning, are nonetheless valuable to master for both philosophical and non-philosophical applications.

Berkeley quickly reclaimed all power upon Bacon's passing and executed the rebellion's main leaders by hanging. In addition, he took insurgent property without waiting for a trial. Twenty-three people in total were executed by hanging for their roles in the uprising.