Francis Bacon

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Jump to: navigation navigation,, search It has been suggested that Idols that Idols of the mind  be  be merged merged into  into this article or section. (Discuss Discuss)) for the painter see Francis Bacon (painter) For other persons named Francis Bacon, see Francis Bacon (disambiguation). (disambiguation).

Western Philosophy Renaissance philosophy

ir Francis Bacon Name Francis Bacon Birth !! Januar" #$%# Death & 'pril #%!% School/tradition mpiricism Influences Democritus Democritus,, lato Influenced Diderot Diderot,, *obbes *obbes,, *ume

Francis Bacon, 1st iscount St !l"an  (!!  (!! Januar" #$%# #$%# +  + & 'pril #%!% #%!%)) as an nglish  philosopher , statesman statesman,, and essa"ist essa"ist.. *e is also -non as a proponent of the scientific

revolution. Indeed, according to John 'ubre", his dedication ma" have brought him into a rare historical group of scientists ho ere -illed b" their on eperiments. *is or-s established and populari/ed an inductive methodolog" for scientific in0uir", often called the Baconian method or simpl", the scientific method. In the contet of his time such methods ere connected ith the occult trends of hermeticism and alchem"1citation needed 2. 3evertheless, his demand for a planned procedure of investigating all things natural mar-ed a ne turn in the rhetorical and theoretical frameor- for science, much of hich still surrounds conceptions of proper methodolog" toda". Bacon as -nighted in #%45, created Baron erulam  in #%#6, and created iscount St !l"an in #%!#7 ithout heirs, both peerages became etinct upon his death. *e has been credited as the creator of the nglish essa".1citation needed 2

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$edit% &arly life Francis Bacon as born at @or- *ouse, trand, Aondon. *e as the "oungest of five sons of ir 3icholas Bacon, Aord eeper of the Creat eal under li/abeth I. *is mother, 'nn 8oo- , as ir 3icholass second ife. he as a daughter of ir 'nthon" 8oo-e and a member of the ?eformed uritan 8hurch. *is (maternal) aunt married illiam 8ecil (Aord Burghle"), the chief minister of Eueen li/abeth I. Biographers believe that Bacon received an education at home in his earl" "ears, and that his health during that time, as later, as delicate. *e entered >rinit" 8ollege, 8ambridge, in #$=5 at the age of telve, living for three "ears there ith h is older brother 'nthon".

't 8ambridge he first met the Eueen, ho as impressed b" his precocious intellect, and as accustomed to call him the "oung Aord eeper. >here also his studies of science brought him to the conclusion that the methods (and thus the results) ere erroneous. *is reverence for 'ristotle conflicted ith his disli-e of 'ristotelian philosoph", hich seemed to him barren, disputatious, and rong in its obGectives. ;n != June #$=%, he and 'nthon" ere entered de societate magistrorum at Cra"s Inn, and a fe months later the" ent abroad ith ir 'mias aulet, the nglish ambassador  at aris. >he disturbed state of government and societ" in France under *enr" III afforded him valuable political instruction. >he sudden death of his father in Februar" #$=& necessitated Bacons return to ngland, and seriousl" influenced his fortunes. ir 3icholas had laid up a considerable sum of mone" to purchase an estate for his "oungest son, but he died before doing so, and Francis as left ith onl" a fifth of that mone". *aving started ith insufficient means, he borroed mone" and became habituall" in debt. >o support himself, he too- up his residence in la at Cra"s Inn in #$=&.

$edit% #areer Bacons goals ere threefold: discover" of truth, service to his countr", and service to the church. noing that a prestigious post ould aid him toard these ends, in #$64 he applied, through his uncle, Aord Burghle", for a post at court hich might enable him to devote himself to a life of learning. *is application failed, and for the net to "ears he or-ed 0uietl" at Cra"s Inn giving himself seriousl" to the stud" of la, until admitted as an outer barrister  in #$6!. In #$69 he too- his seat in parliament for Helcombe in Dorset, and subse0uentl" for >aunton (#$6%). *e rote on the condition of parties in the church, and he rote don his thoughts on philosophical reform in the lost tract, Temporis Partus Maimus, but he failed to obtain a position of the -ind he thought necessar" for his on success. In the arliament of #$6% he too- a prominent part in urging the eecution of Har" Eueen of cots. 'bout this time he seems again to have approached his poerful uncle, the result of hich ma" possibl" be traced in his rapid progress at the bar, and in his receiving, in #$6&, the reversion to the 8ler-ship of the tar 8hamber , a valuable appointment, the enGo"ment of hich, hoever, he did not enter into until #%46. During this period Bacon became ac0uainted ith ?obert Devereu, !nd arl of sse (#$%=+#%4#), Eueen li/abeths favorite. B" #$&# he as acting as the earls confidential adviser. Bacon too- his seat for Hiddlese hen in Februar" #$&5 li/abeth called a arliament to investigate a ?oman 8atholic plot against her. *is opposition to a bill that ould lev" triple subsidies in half the usual time (he obGected to the time span) offended man" people7 he as accused of see-ing popularit", and as for a time ecluded from the court. hen the 'ttorne"o console him for these disappointments, sse  presented him ith a propert" at >ic-enham, hich he subse0uentl" sold for #644, the e0uivalent of around !94,444 toda".

Hemorial to Francis Bacon, in the chapel of >rinit" 8ollege, 8ambridge In #$&% he as made a Eueens 8ounsel, but missed the appointment of Haster of the ?olls. During the net fe "ears, his financial situation remained bad. *is friends could find no public office for him, a scheme for retrieving his position b" a marriage ith the ealth" ido Aad" li/abeth *atton failed, and in #$&6 he as arrested for debt. *is standing in the 0ueens e"es, hoever, as beginning to improve. *e graduall" ac0uired the standing of one of the learned counsel, though he had no commission or arrant and received no salar". *is relationship ith the 0ueen also improved hen he severed ties ith sse, a fortunate move considering that the latter ould be eecuted for treason in #%4#7 and Bacon as one of those appointed to investigate the charges against him, and eamine itnesses, in connection ith hich he shoed eagerness in pressing the case against his former friend and benefactor. >his act Bacon endeavoured to Gustif" in !  "eclaration of the Practices and Treasons# etc.# of ... the $arl of $sse# etc. *e received a gift of a fine of #!44 on one of sses accomplices. >he accession of James I brought Bacon into greater favour7 he as -nighted in #%45, and endeavoured to set himself right ith the ne poers b" riting his !pologie (defence) of his proceedings in the case of sse, ho had favoured the succession of James. Bacon as present at the state opening of parliament in #%4$, hich ould have all but certainl" made him a victim of the Cunpoder lot had it succeeded. >he folloing "ear, during the course of the uneventful first parliament session Bacon married 'lice Barnham (#$&!+#%$4), the fourteen "ear old daughter of a ellhis is thought to be the same erc" of hom Bacons mother rote, iratel", that %lood& Perc& ho as -ept &ea as a coach companion and a %ed companion. Based on this evidence, several modern authors, such as historians '. A. ?ose,1!2 ?ictor  3orton,152 and rofessor of nglish and 8omparative Aiterature 'lan teart,192 conclude that he did indeed have homoseual inclinations.  3ieves Hathes,1$2 claims that the sources are not conclusive. he dismisses des as an enem". *oever he is regarded as a responsible and scrupulous la"er. John 'ubre" she discounts for having ritten his biograph" after Bacons death. >he note b" 'nn Bacon in hich she epressed disapproval of the friends Francis (and his brother 'nthon", ho as himself a pederast ho as tried for his relationship ith a page and narrol" escaped punishment at the hands of the French legal s"stem) ere associating ith, Hathes blames not on criticism of her sons amorous habits but because one as a apist, and mone" as oned to her sons. *oever, coaches ere one o f the fe  private spaces at the time, thus the term coach companion is a clear reference to seual doings.1%2 hile contesting Bacon7s identification as a homoseual, Hathes provides no evidence to support her theor" of Bacons heteroseualit".

$edit% Death

Honument to Bacon at his burial place, t Hichaels 8hurch in t 'lbans In Harch #%!%, Aord t 'lban came to Aondon. 8ontinuing his scientific research, he as Gourne"ing to *ighgate through the sno ith the ings ph"sician hen, as John 'ubre" recounts in Brief )ives, he as suddenl" inspired b" the possibilit" of using the sno to preserve meat. 'ccording to 'ubre" >he" ere resolved the" ould tr" the eperiment presentl". >he" alighted out of the coach and ent into a poor omans house at the bottom of *ighgate hill, and bought a fol, and made the oman eenterate it. 'fter stuffing the fol ith sno, he happened to contract a fatal case of  pneumonia. *e then attempted to etend his fading lifespan b" consuming the fol that had caused his illness. ome people, including 'ubre", consider these to contiguous, possibl" coincidental events as related and causative of his death: >he no so chilled him that he immediatel" fell so etremel" ill, that he cou ld not return to his Aodging ...but ent to the arle of 'rundels house at *ighgate, here the" put him into ... a damp bed that had not been la"nhese are called Idols162

(idola), and are of four -inds: Idols of the >ribe (idola tri%us), hich are common to the race7 Idols of the Den (idola specus), hich are peculiar to the individual7 Idols of the Har-etplace (idola fori), coming from the misuse of language7 and Idols of the >heatre (idola theatri), hich result from an abuse of authorit". >he end of induction is the discover" of forms, the a"s in hich natural phenomena occur, the causes from hich the" proceed. Bacons somehat fragmentar" ethical s"stem, derived through use of his methods, is eplicated in the seventh and eighth boo-s of his "e augmentis scientiarum (#%!5). *e distinguishes beteen dut" to the communit", an ethical matter, and dut" to Cod, a purel" religious matter. 'n" moral action is the action of the human ill, hich is governed b" reason and spurred on b" the passions7 habit is hat aids men in directing their ill toard the good. 3o universal rules can be made, as both situations and mens characters differ. Bacon distinctl" separated religion and philosoph", though the to can coeist. here  philosoph" is based on reason, faith is based on revelation, and therefore irrational  in  "e augmentis he rites that the more discordant, therefore, and incredible, the divine m"ster" is, the more honour is shon to Cod in believing it, and the nobler is the victor" of faith. 'nd "et he rites in >he ssa"s: ;f 'theism that a little philosoph" inclineth manLs mind to atheism7 but depth in philosoph" bringeth menLs minds about to religion, suggesting he continued to emplo" inductive reasoning in all areas of his life, including his on spiritual beliefs. Bacon contrasted the ne approach, of the development of science, ith that of the Hiddle 'ges. *e once said, to top it all off:  Men have sought to make a world from their  own conception and to draw from their own minds all the material which the& emplo&ed# %ut if# instead of doing so# the& had consulted eperience and o%servation# the& would have the facts and not opinions to reason a%out# and might have ultimatel& arrived at the knowledge of the laws which govern the material world.

$edit% (n ) *orld+chanin in-entions In Bacons or- 5ovum 6rganum, he cites three orldhese three have changed the hole face and state of things throughout the orld7 the first in literature, the second in arfare, the third in navigation7 hence have folloed innumerable changes, in so much that no empire, no sect, no star seems to have eerted greater poer and influence in human affairs than these mechanical discoveries. 1&2

$edit% (thers Bacons ideas about the improvement of the human lot ere influential in the #%54s and #%$4s among a number of arliamentarian scholars. During the ?estoration, Bacon as

commonl" invo-ed as a guiding spirit of the nehe >ale of the ha-spere pitaph b" Francis Bacon referred to an inscription on a bust of ha-espeare hich he asserted concealed the sentence, F?' B' ?> '? '@, an abbreviation of Francis Bacon rote ha-espeares pla"s. 'nother author,Francis 8arr, has suggested that Bacon rote not onl" ha-espeares pla"s but Don Euiote as ell,162 hile Dr ;rville ;en, in his monumantal ($ volumes) Francis Bacons 8ipher tor" (#6&5ain as a Baconian arguing vigorousl" for Bacon and ridiculing the tratfordolators and the ha-espearoids in Is ha-espeare DeadN (3e @or-: *arper and Brothers, #&4&).1&2

$edit% .imeline