Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban, KC (22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626) was an English philosopher, statesman, scientist, lawyer, jurist, author, and pioneer of the scientific method. He served both as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England. Although his political career ended in disgrace, he remained extremely influential through his works, especially as philosophical advocate and practitioner of the scientific method during the scientific revolution.
Bacon has been called the creator of empiricism. His works established and popularized inductive methodologies for scientific inquiry, often called the Baconian method, or simply the scientific method. His demand for a planned procedure of investigating all things natural marked a new turn in the rhetorical and theoretical framework for science, much of which still surrounds conceptions of proper methodology today.
Scientific works
The Great Instauration
Francis Bacon is considered one of the fathers of modern science. He proposed a great reformation of all processes of knowledge for the advancement of thinking a divine work and human. He called it (The Great Instauration – the action of restoring or renewing something). Bacon planned his Great Instauration in imitation of the Divine Work – the Work of the Six Days of Creation, as defined in the Bible, leading to the Seventh Day of Rest or Sabbath in which Adam's dominion over creation would be restored, thus dividing the great reformation in six parts: Partitions of the Sciences () New Method () Natural History () Ladder of the Intellect () Anticipations of the Second Philosophy () The Second Philosophy or Active Science ()
For Bacon, this reformation would lead to a great advancement in science and a progeny of new inventions that would relieve mankind's miseries and needs.
In , the second part of the Instauration, he stated his view that the restoration of science was part of the "partial returning of mankind to the state it lived before the fall", restoring its dominion over creation, while religion and faith would partially restore mankind's original state of innocence and purity.
In the book The Great Instauration, he also gave some admonitions regarding the ends and purposes of science, from which much of his philosophy can be deduced. He said that men should confine the sense within the limits of duty in respect to things divine, while not falling in the opposite error which would be to think that inquisition of nature is forbidden by divine law. Another admonition was concerning the ends of science: that mankind should seek knowledge not for pleasure, contention, superiority over others, profit, fame, or power, but for the benefit and use of life, and that they perfect and govern it in charity.
Regarding faith, in , he wrote 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." He wrote in The Essays: Of Atheism, "a little philosophy inclineth man's mind to atheism; but depth in philosophy bringeth men's minds about to religion." Meanwhile, in the very next essay called "Of Superstition" Bacon remarks, "Atheism leaves a man to sense, to philosophy, to natural piety, to laws, to reputation; all which may be guides to an outward moral virtue, though religion was not; but superstition dismounts all these, and erecteth an absolute monarchy in the minds of men. Therefore atheism did never perturb states; for it makes men wary of themselves, as looking no further: and we see the times inclined to atheism (as the time of Augustus Cæsar) were civil times. But superstition hath been the confusion of many states, and bringeth in a new primum mobile, that ravished all the spheres of government".. Percy Bysshe Shelley cites this passage in his essay "The Necessity of Atheism". Yet even more than this, Bacon's views of God are in accordance with popular Christian theology, as he writes, "They that deny a God destroy man's nobility; for certainly man is of kin to the beasts by his body; and, if he be not of kin to God by his spirit, he is a base and ignoble creature."
He considered science (natural philosophy) as a remedy against superstition, and therefore a "most faithful attendant" of religion, considering religion as the revelation of God's will and science as the contemplation of God's power.
Nevertheless, Bacon contrasted the new approach of the development of science with that of the Middle Ages:
He spoke of the advancement of science in the modern world as the fulfilment of a prophecy made in the Book of Daniel saying: "But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased" (see "Of the Interpretation of Nature").
Bacon also quotes from the Book of Daniel (12:4) in the inscription on the frontispiece of the 1620 publication: "Many shall go to and fro and knowledge shall be increased." Through this inscription, Bacon draws a parallel between the Age of Exploration and the Scientific Revolution. The frontispiece also depicts European ships sailing past the Pillars of Hercules, which represented the geographical boundary of the classical world.. In Aphorism 92, Book I of , Bacon writes: "…just as Columbus did, before his wonderful voyage across the Atlantic Ocean, when he gave the reasons for his confidence that he could find new lands and continents beyond those known already; reasons which, although rejected at first, were later proved by experiment, and became the causes and starting points of great things."
Since Bacon's ideal was a widespread revolution of the common method of scientific inquiry, there had to be some way by which his method could become widespread. His solution was to lobby the state to make natural philosophy a matter of greater importance – not only to fund it, but also to regulate it. While in office under Queen Elizabeth, he even advocated for the employment of a minister for science and technology, a position that was never realized. Later under King James, Bacon wrote in The Advancement of Learning: "The King should take order for the collecting and perfecting of a Natural and Experimental History, true and severe (unencumbered with literature and book-learning), such as philosophy may be built upon, so that philosophy and the sciences may no longer float in air, but rest on the solid foundation of experience of every kind."
While Bacon was a strong advocate for state involvement in scientific inquiry, he also felt that his general method should be applied directly to the functioning of the state as well. For Bacon, matters of policy were inseparable from philosophy and science. Bacon recognized the repetitive nature of history and sought to correct it by making the future direction of government more rational. To make future civil history more linear and achieve real progress, he felt that methods of the past and experiences of the present should be examined together to determine the best ways by which to go about civil discourse. Bacon began one particular address to the House of Commons with a reference to the book of Jeremiah: "Stand in the ancient ways but look also into a present experience to see whether in the light of this experience ancient ways are right. If they are found to be so, walk in them". In short, he wanted his method of progress building on progress in natural philosophy to be integrated into England's political theory.
According to author Nieves Mathews, the promoters of the French Reformation misrepresented Bacon by deliberately mistranslating and editing his writings to suit their anti-religious and materialistic concepts, which action would have carried a highly influential negative effect on his reputation..
('New Method')
The is a philosophical work by Francis Bacon published in 1620. The title is a reference to Aristotle's work Organon, which was his treatise on logic and syllogism, and is the second part of his Instauration.
The book is divided into two parts, the first part being called "On the Interpretation of Nature and the Empire of Man", and the second "On the Interpretation of Nature, or the Reign of Man".
Bacon starts the work saying that man is " the minister and interpreter of nature", that "knowledge and human power are synonymous", that "effects are produced by the means of instruments and helps", and that "man while operating can only apply or withdraw natural bodies; nature internally performs the rest", and later that "nature can only be commanded by obeying her". Here is an abstract of the philosophy of this work, that by the knowledge of nature and the using of instruments, man can govern or direct the natural work of nature to produce definite results. Therefore, that man, by seeking knowledge of nature, can reach power over it – and thus reestablish the "Empire of Man over creation", which had been lost by the Fall together with man's original purity. In this way, he believed, would mankind be raised above conditions of helplessness, poverty, and mystery, while coming into a condition of peace, prosperity, and security..
Bacon, taking into consideration the possibility of mankind misusing its power over nature gained by science, expressed his opinion that there was no need to fear it – for once mankind restored this power "assigned to them by the gift of God", it would be correctly governed by "right reason and true religion".. The moral aspects of the use of this power, and the way mankind should exercise it, however, are more explored in other works rather than the , such as in .
For this purpose of obtaining knowledge of and power over nature, Bacon outlined in this work a new system of logic he believed to be superior to the old ways of syllogism, developing his scientific method, consisting of procedures for isolating the formal cause of a phenomenon (heat, for example) through eliminative induction. For him, the philosopher should proceed through inductive reasoning from fact to axiom to physical law. Before beginning this induction, though, the enquirer must free his or her mind from certain false notions or tendencies that distort the truth. These are called "Idols" (), and are of four kinds: "Idols of the Tribe" (), which are common to the race; "Idols of the Den" (), which are peculiar to the individual; "Idols of the Marketplace" (), coming from the misuse of language; and "Idols of the Theatre" (), which stem from philosophical dogmas.
About which, he stated:
Of the idols of the mind that Bacon categorizes, he identified those of the marketplace to be the most troublesome in humanity's achieving an accurate understanding of Nature. Bacon finds philosophy to have become preoccupied with words, particularly discourse and debate, rather than actually observing the material world: "For while men believe their reason governs words, in fact, words turn back and reflect their power upon the understanding, and so render philosophy and science sophistical and inactive." Bacon's concern of the idols of the marketplace is words no longer correspond to Nature but instead come to refer to intangible concepts and so possess an artificial worth.
Bacon considered that it is of greatest importance to science not to keep doing intellectual discussions or seeking merely contemplative aims, but that it should work for the bettering of mankind's life by bringing forth new inventions, has even stated that "inventions are also, as it were, new creations and imitations of divine works". He cites examples from the ancient world, saying that in Ancient Egypt the inventors were reputed among the gods, and in a higher position than the heroes of the political sphere, such as legislators, liberators and the like. He explores the far-reaching and world-changing character of inventions, such as in the stretch: