Bacon 39;s Essays Summary

[Tina Larzelere]

4Idols of the Theatre: This is again a set of idols, which are learned by us through our respective culture, a practice acquired by humans through socialization and cultural exposure. It refers to the theatricality and sophistry in knowledge, but instead of being true knowledge, it is mere imitations. Hence, this phenomena is described using a metaphor of the theatre. Bacon accuses philosophers of engaging in this particular set of idols.

2. Contentious learning (or vain altercations): Contentious learning refers to excessive contestation amongst those deeply entrenched in a particular academic discipline, including arduous arguments about the most minute, inconsequential details, which ultimately lead to no fruitful gain. Bacon lashed out at classical philosophers such as Aristotle for engaging in such learning which ultimately benefits no one.

Induction is the inference of the general from specific instances. Classically, philosophers had a method wherein they would jump to general conclusions after examining only a few specific instances, and then work backwards for a thorough verification processes.

However, there were criticisms to this method, with contemporary thinkers questioning just how much research is needed before making a general conclusion. Moreover, such an approach completely ignores the role of imagination and theorizing a hypothesis. Many great discoveries in history were made by those who imagined a particular idea and proceeded to test it, and not vice versa. Either way, Bacon provides a unique picture of rigorous academic research and induction.

Not only did Bacon have strong ideas about how knowledge should be collected, he also held strong ideas about how existing knowledge must be classified for optimum benefit to human learning. In his expanded version of the Advancement of Learning (De Dignitate), he proposed a threefold classification of knowledge: History, Poesy (poetry), and Philosophy. These three disciplines represent memory, imagination, and reason respectively. He believed that these three disciplines would lead to true advancement, and that the importance of philosophy must be greatly elevated in order for academics to truly progress. As a scientific thinker, he denounced and looked down upon the humanist subjects, namely literature and history. To him, history was a mere collection of facts and poesy was an expressive device; it was philosophy that had to take center stage.

Bacon's essay "Of Studies" shows his abilities of persuasion. He creates a metaphor between literature and medicine, stating that as medicine can cure the problems of the body, literature can heal the defects of the mind. The essay has a clear structure, and it groups elements in groups of three. Indeed, Bacon exposes his opinion, but its structure and a formal philosophical language make it appear as the truth in order to convince the audience of what he is saying: studying different genres helps to cure different defects of the mind.

In this essay Bacon states his ideology about education and learning. He argues that, "studies serve for delight, for ornament, and for ability." Bacon felt that people should delight in knowledge for its own sake rather than a means to an end...

Francis Bacon: Essays and Major Works study guide contains a biography of Francis Bacon, literature essays, a complete e-text, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis of select works.

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I do think that the desire for an end to religious turmoil can be pinpointed as the central motivating factor for secularists such as Bacon, Hobbes, and Locke. I do think that they failed to account for the fact that, even in the least religious societies, there could still be a grave threat of violent conflict. Thus, atheistic communism coincided with the first-ever global fear of nuclear annihilation.

This classical tradition was transmitted by monks like Bede and Alcuin that included everything from classic Roman culture: grammar, rhetoric, history, and astronomy. The De Natura Rerum bears this out for its encyclopedic attempt to fulfill the plan of the De Doctrina Chrsitiana: a summary of all that is necessaryto know in order to understand the Bible and explain it to others.

The works of Bede became the textbooks of the great school of York to which students came from Germany and France. The same books went with Alcuin to the schools of Charlemagne, a continous thread of though from the Church Fathers who, like Bacon held to wisdom acheived by the tools of the trivium with its place for logic and dialectics as mere tools, something Bacon was aware of.

The only work one may understand of McLuhans without great preparation discussses this history. It was his PHD thesis at Cambridge. His examiner claimed he learned more from this thesis than any other single work he had read.

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