What discovery did Francis Bacon make? "Ghosts" - what is it? Bacon "The Great Restoration of the Sciences"

In the 17th century, two philosophical doctrines appeared, for the first time quite clearly putting forward two main points of view on the sources and criteria of knowledge, - empirical And rationalistic. These are the teachings of Francis Bacon and Rene Descartes. The problem of cognition takes on a completely new formulation in them. Francis Bacon not only does not repeat Aristotle, but even stands in some opposition to him and develops a completely original theory of knowledge, the center of gravity of which lies in the new idea experiment as a tool of experimental science. In the same way, Descartes does not repeat Plato, but sees in the human spirit, in its organization, data for discovering the basic and essential truths of knowledge, similar in their reliability and distinctness to mathematical ones and which can serve as the foundation of the entire doctrine of the world.

Portrait of Francis Bacon. Painter Frans Pourbus the Younger, 1617

Nevertheless, it cannot be denied that the spiritual father of Rene Descartes is Plato, the spiritual father of the philosophy of Francis Bacon is Aristotle. Despite all the private disagreements of the mentioned thinkers, their relationship cannot be denied. In general, there are two kinds of minds, of which some are directed outward, to the external world, and from it they already go to an explanation of the inner man and the inner nature of things, others are directed inward, to the area of ​​human self-consciousness and in it they seek support and criteria for interpreting the very nature of the world. . In this sense, the empiricist Bacon as a philosopher is closer to Aristotle, the rationalist Descartes to Plato, and the contrast of this two kinds of minds is so deep and difficult to eliminate that it also appears in later philosophy. So, in the first half of the 19th century, Auguste Comte was a typical representative of thinkers whose eyes are turned to the outside world, and who are looking for clues to the problem of man in it, and Schopenhauer is a typical representative of that class of thinkers who are looking for clues to the world in human self-consciousness. Positivism is the latest stage in the development of Francis Bacon's empiricism, Schopenhauer's metaphysics is, in a certain sense, the latest modification of Descartes' apriorism.

Biography of Francis Bacon

The biography of a thinker is of great importance in the analysis of his worldview. Sometimes the loftiness of a philosopher's life clarifies the reasons for the loftiness and superiority of his teaching, sometimes the baseness or inner insignificance of his life throws light on the nature of his views. But there are also more difficult cases. A life that is not remarkable in any way, or even of poor moral quality, is not devoid of greatness and significance in some respects, and reveals by itself certain features of the internal structure, for example, the one-sidedness and narrowness of the thinker's worldview. This is precisely the case presented by the biography of the English philosopher Francis Bacon. His life is not only not instructive in the moral sense, but one can even regret that the history of modern philosophy should place such a dubious personality as Francis Bacon in the ranks of its first representatives in importance. There were even overzealous historians of philosophy who saw in the story of the life of Bacon sufficient reason to exclude him from the category of great philosophers, and the dispute about the significance of Bacon as a philosopher, which arose in the 1860s in German literature, undoubtedly had a lining ethical considerations. Kuno Fischer was the first to find out the close connection between Bacon's peculiar character and his major philosophical outlook.

Francis Bacon was born in 1561, the youngest son of the keeper of the great seal in England, Nicholas Bacon. After the death of his father, while serving at the embassy in Paris, the future philosopher found himself in a difficult financial situation. Having chosen first the career of a lawyer, and then a parliamentary figure, Francis Bacon, thanks to eloquence, enormous ambition and promiscuity in means, quickly began to rise in the service field. As a result of the trial of the Earl of Essex, his former friend and patron, - a trial in which, forgetting feelings of friendship and gratitude, he acted as an accuser Essex and a supporter of the government - Bacon managed to acquire a special favor with Queen Elizabeth and achieve high positions by intrigues. Under James I, he is made keeper of the great seal, and then chancellor, baron of Verulam and viscount of St. Albany. Then follows the fall, due to the process initiated by his enemies and the revealed fact that Bacon took large bribes in solving litigations and distributing posts. Bacon is deprived of all positions and distinctions and devotes the rest of his life on the estate to his final development of his philosophical doctrine of knowledge, not agreeing to return to power. Francis Bacon died in 1626 due to a cold during the experience of stuffing birds with snow.

Bacon: "knowledge is power"

Thus, the life of Francis Bacon, even from the external connection of facts, is a curious phenomenon: signs of a complete absence of moral principles and, despite this, devotion to science, knowledge, reaching to self-sacrifice. This contrast reflects the whole spirit of his teaching - the idealistic fanaticism of his faith in science, combined with indifference to the role of knowledge in the creation of a person's moral outlook. "Knowledge is power" is the motto of Bacon's philosophy. But what strength? The power to arrange not internal but external life. Knowledge in the hands of man is an instrument of power over nature, the same thing that finally became knowledge in our time of great victories over nature and the extreme humiliation of the moral principles of human life. Francis Bacon gives in his philosophy, as it were, a kind of prophecy, a prophecy of our time. Francis Bacon, according to the apt comparison of Windelband, is an adherent of the "spirit of the earth" in Goethe's Faust. “And who does not recognize in the philosophy of Bacon,” he notes, “the practical spirit of the English, who, more than all other peoples, were able to use the discoveries of science to improve life.” Francis Bacon is no exception, Bacon is the type of a practical person who, at best, sees in science, in knowledge, a force capable of subordinating the outside world, nature, to humanity. The guiding idea of ​​Bacon in his philosophical works was the idea of ​​the material benefit of all mankind. Bacon's merit is that he was the first to generalize the principle of the struggle of the individual for the right to life, and Hobbes, who proclaimed "the war of all against all" as the initial beginning of the development of society, was only a continuer of the philosophy of Francis Bacon in understanding the meaning of life, and both together were predecessors. Malthus And Darwin with their doctrine of the struggle for existence, as a principle of development, in the economic and biological spheres. It is difficult to deny the continuity of national ideas and aspirations, when for three centuries they have been so clearly reflected.

Monument to Francis Bacon at the Library of Congress

The scientific method of Francis Bacon

But let us turn to the philosophical teachings of Francis Bacon. He outlined it in two capital works - in the essay “On the Dignity and Multiplication of Sciences”, which appeared first in English in 1605 and then in Latin in 1623, and in “ New Organon" (1620). Both works are part of the conceived, but not completed, philosophical work "Instauratio magna" ("The Great Restoration of the Sciences"). Bacon contrasts his "New Organon" with the totality of Aristotle's logical works, which received in antiquity, in the school of Aristotle, the name "Organon" - a tool, method of science and philosophy. What was Francis Bacon's "transformation"?

Even in the XIII century. his namesake, the monk Roger Bacon, expressed the idea that it was necessary to study nature directly. Bernardino Telesio, in the Renaissance, tried to create a theory of experience as a tool of knowledge, and to prove the inconsistency of inference as a tool of knowledge. Raymond Lull tried to invent in the XIII century. method of discovering new scientific truths by combining concepts, and Giordano Bruno tried to improve this method in the 16th century. The philosopher Francis Bacon also aims to improve the art of inventions and discoveries, but by clarifying the methods of direct, experimental, scientific study of nature. Francis Bacon is the successor of R. Bacon and B. Telesio on the one hand, R. Lullia and Giordano Bruno on the other.

The real ground for his philosophical theories were the actual inventions and discoveries of the coming epoch. What is the purpose of science? According to Bacon, it is to contribute to the improvement of life. If science is abstracted from life, then it is like a plant uprooted from its soil and torn from its roots, and therefore no longer enjoying any nourishment. Such is scholasticism; new inventions and discoveries of science were made on the basis of a direct study of life and nature. Francis Bacon, however, does not understand the complexity of the problem of knowledge, science. He does not explore the boundaries and deep foundations of knowledge; he proceeds in his doctrine of the scientific method from certain general assumptions, based partly on observation, partly on fantasy. Apparently, Bacon is little acquainted with the authentic writings of Aristotle on nature and knows, in general, ancient philosophy and science superficially. An admirer of experience and induction, he himself constructs his theory of knowledge and its methods abstractly, and priori, deductively, not inductively; the founder of the doctrine of experiment, he explores and determines the foundations of knowledge not experimentally and not even inductively, but on the basis of general considerations. This is the reason for the weakness and one-sidedness of his theory of knowledge. Bacon's main strength lies in his criticism of the previous insufficient success of the natural sciences.

Idols of Bacon

The philosophy of Francis Bacon recognizes reason and feelings (sensations) as the foundations of knowledge. In order to properly use the first for acquisition, through the second , true knowledge of nature, must purify it of various false anticipations or anticipations of experience, incorrect and unfounded assumptions, make it clean board, convenient for the perception of new facts. For this purpose, Bacon very witty and, in a psychological sense, subtly defines the erroneous images or idols of our mind, which impede his cognitive work. His philosophy divides these idols into four categories: 1) Idols of the clan(idola tribus). These are features of human nature in general that distort the knowledge of things: for example, a tendency to excessive order in ideas, the influence of fantasy, the desire to go beyond the material of knowledge available in experience, the influence of feelings and moods on the work of thought, the inclination of the mind to excessive distraction, abstraction. 2) Cave idols(idola specus): each person occupies a certain corner of the world, and the light of knowledge reaches him, refracting through the medium of his special individual nature, formed under the influence of education and intercourse with other people, under the influence of books that he studied and authorities that he revered . Thus, every person cognizes the world from his corner or cave (an expression taken from the philosophy of Plato); a person sees the world in a special light that is personally accessible to him; everyone should try to recognize their own personal characteristics and cleanse their thoughts from the admixture of personal opinions and from coloring with personal sympathies. 3) Idols of the Square(idola fori): the most nasty and difficult to eliminate errors associated with language, the word, as an instrument of knowledge, and found in the intercourse of people among themselves (hence the "area"). Words in the world of thoughts are a walking bargaining chip, its price is relative. By their origin from direct, coarse knowledge, words roughly and inconsistently determine things, and hence the endless disputes about words. We must try to define them more precisely, putting them in connection with the real facts of experience, distinguishing them according to the degree of certainty and exact correspondence with the properties of things. Finally, the fourth category theater idols(idola theatri) are "deceptive images of reality arising from the erroneous representation of reality by philosophers and scientists who mix reality with fables and fictions, as on the stage or in poetry." In this sense, Francis Bacon especially points out, among other things, the harmful interference in the field of science and philosophy of religious ideas.

Monument to Francis Bacon in London

Bacon's method of knowing

No less than reason, the feelings themselves are subject to purification and refinement, very often deceiving us and yet serving as the only source of the entire content of thought. We still do not find a deep psychological analysis of sensations in the philosophy of Francis Bacon, but he correctly notes some weaknesses in the process of sensory perception and makes it a general rule that the perceptions of the sense organs must be methodically refined by means of artificial tools and by repeating and modifying perceptions in the form of checking them with each other. But no one can know things through the senses alone - sensations must be processed by reason, and this gives general truths, axioms that guide the mind during further wanderings in the forest of facts, in the wilds of experience. Therefore, Bacon also condemns those philosophers who, like spiders all knowledge is weaved out of itself (dogmatists or rationalists), and those who, like ants only collect facts in a heap, without processing them (extreme empiricists), - in order to acquire true knowledge, one must act as one does bees who collect material from flowers and fields and process it into unique products with a special inner strength.

Bacon's experiment and induction

One cannot, of course, disagree with this general method of cognition, as formulated by Francis Bacon. The union of experience and thought which he recommends is indeed the only way to truth. But how to reach it and achieve in the process of cognition the proper degree and proportion? Baconian theory is the answer to this. induction as a method of knowledge. Syllogism or inference, according to Bacon's philosophy, does not give new knowledge, real knowledge, because inferences consist of sentences, and sentences of words, while words are signs of concepts. It's all about how the original concepts and words are composed. In the philosophy of Francis Bacon, the method of correct formulation of concepts is induction, based on experiment.Experiment is the way to artificial repetition and constant mutual verification of sensations. But the essence of induction is not in one experiment, but in a certain development of sensory data acquired through it. In order to organize this elaboration of sensations and to correctly guide the experiment itself, Bacon proposes to draw up special tables of cases of similar, different (negative), parallel changing facts that exclude each other, and so on. This famous Baconian theory tables supplemented by the doctrine of the system of auxiliary inductive methods or instances. Bacon's theory of induction, supplemented Newton And Herschel, formed the basis of the teachings of the philosopher John Stuart Mill about inductive methods of agreement, difference, concomitant changes and residues, as well as about auxiliary inductive methods to them.

The essence of the inductive analysis of facts comes down to discovering their true causal connections and dependences on each other through the study of various kinds of relations of phenomena in experience, for the task of the science of nature, according to Bacon, is to study the causal connection of phenomena, and not their simple material composition. , - general forms of phenomena, and not their specific differences. In this teaching, Francis Bacon adjoins the philosophy of Aristotle and by forms means those general laws or typical relations of phenomena, to the discovery of which all experimental science strives.

Bacon's classification of sciences

Bacon, while developing the question of the methods of the sciences, also tried to give a classification of the sciences, but the latter is certainly weak. He distinguishes the science of nature from the science of man and the science of God. Within the first physics or the doctrine of material causes he distinguishes from metaphysics, science of forms, theoretical physics is opposed to practical science - mechanics, and metaphysics of magic. The doctrine of goals in the "New Organon" is completely excluded from the limits of the science of nature, and thus Francis Bacon is in his philosophy the first representative of the purely mechanical tendencies of modern science. Next to physics and metaphysics, he sometimes places mathematics as a tool for the quantitative analysis of phenomena, and, according to the general admission of critics, he poorly understands the meaning and intrinsic value of mathematical knowledge. In determining the inner essence of the problems of the science of man and God, Bacon occupies an ambiguous position. To the sciences of man, he ranks history(natural science of society), logic, ethics And politics. In man, he recognizes the soul as a principle emanating from God, and in principle considers only the animal soul, connected with the bodily organization, to be the subject of natural science, just as he considers only the lower inclinations of man to be the subject of natural morality, while the nature of the higher soul and higher moral beginnings are subject to definition and clarification only from the side of Divine revelation, as well as the very nature of God. But at the same time, Bacon, in his anthropology, as well as in the science of God, often oversteps the boundaries of natural science recognized by him. As one of the themes present in Bacon's philosophy and the idea universal science- the first philosophy in the sense of Aristotle, which should be a "store of general axioms of knowledge" and a tool for researching some special "transcendental" concepts of being and non-being, reality and possibility, movement and rest, etc., but we are in We do not find the philosophy of Francis Bacon, which is completely understandable, since he thinks that all the axioms of knowledge are nevertheless based on experience, on sensations of external senses, and does not recognize other sources of knowledge. Thus, the classification of sciences is the weakest side of Bacon's doctrine of knowledge.

Giving an assessment of the philosophy of Francis Bacon, we must admit that on the whole he deserves the merit of the first attempt to develop a comprehensive theory of objective knowledge, to find all the conditions, obstacles and benefits for the correct development of the factual material of experience, and one cannot be too strict with Bacon for the fact that, having set tasked with the study of external experimental elements and conditions of knowledge, he did not reach the proper depth in the analysis of the very cognitive abilities and processes of the human mind.

BACON(Bacon) Francis (January 22, 1561, London - April 9, 1626, Highgate) was an English philosopher, writer and statesman, one of the founders of modern philosophy. Born in the family of a high-ranking dignitary of the Elizabethan court, the Lord Keeper of the Great Royal Seal. Studied at Trinity College, Cambridge (1573–76) and Grace's Inn Law Corporation (1579–82). In 1586 he became foreman of this corporation. He led extensive judicial practice and was elected to parliament. He began to occupy high government positions under James I Stuart. From 1618 - Lord High Chancellor and Peer of England. In 1621 he was removed from this post in connection with the accusation of abuse and bribery brought against him by parliament. The last years of his life he was engaged exclusively in scientific and literary activities. He died of a cold he got while experimenting with freezing chicken to see how snow could keep meat from spoiling.

Bacon's philosophy, ideologically prepared by the previous natural philosophy, the tradition of English nominalism and the achievements of the new natural science, combined the naturalistic worldview with the principles of the analytical method, empiricism with a broad program of reform of the entire intellectual world. Bacon associated the future of mankind, its power and well-being with the success of the sciences in the knowledge of nature and its laws and the implementation of useful inventions on this basis.

The state and improvement of science became the subject of his main philosophical work, The Great Restoration of the Sciences (Instauratio Magna Scientiarum). The first part of it was the treatise On the Dignity and Multiplication of the Sciences (1623, Russian translation, 1971), which contains an encyclopedic overview and classification of all human knowledge. Bacon divides all knowledge into three areas corresponding to the three spiritual abilities of a person: memory, fantasy and reason. History corresponds to memory, poetry to fantasy, philosophy to reason, which he identifies with science in general, i.e. includes the whole set of explanatory sciences. Further grouping of sciences within these areas is carried out according to the difference in the objects of their study. This classification, which is very branched and detailed, is remarkable in that for each theoretical science, Bacon indicates either the existing or possible practical or technical discipline corresponding to it, while noting those problems that, in his opinion, need to be developed. The second part was the treatise The New Organon, or True Directions for the Interpretation of Nature (1620, Russian translation, 1935). This part is the philosophical and methodological focus of the whole Baconian idea. Here the doctrine of the method of cognition, the concept of induction as a way of rational analysis and generalization of experimental data, is set out in detail, which should radically improve all scientific research and give them a clear perspective. The third part was to represent a series of works concerning the "natural and experimental history" of individual phenomena and processes of nature. Bacon completed this plan in half: "History of the Winds" (Historia ventorum, 1622), "History of Life and Death" (Historia vitae et mortis, 1623), "History of dense and rarefied and on the compression and expansion of matter in space" (Historia densi et rari... 1658). The next three parts remained only in the project.

Bacon also speaks of the benefits of scientific and technological development in the story The New Atlantis (1627, Russian translation, 1821, 1962). Like many of his works, it remained unfinished. The story describes the utopian state of the island of Bensalema, the main institution of which is the scientific order of the "House of Solomon", the scientific and technical center of the country, which at the same time controls the entire economic life. There are remarkable foresights in the account of the order's work. This is the idea of ​​a differentiated organization of scientific work with specialization and division of labor of scientists, with the allocation of various categories of scientists, each of which solves a strictly defined range of tasks, this is also an indication of the possibility of such technical achievements as the transmission of light over long distances, powerful artificial magnets, aircraft of various designs, submarines, getting temperatures close to the sun, creating an artificial climate and models that imitate the behavior of animals and people.

Another work to which Bacon constantly turned, replenishing it with new essays, was "Experiments, or Instructions moral and political" (1597, 1612, 1625, Russian translation 1874, 1962). "Experiments" contain a wide range of views on a variety of life issues, the maxims of practical morality, considerations on political, social and religious topics. Bacon is devoted to the Tudor ideal of the military, maritime and political power of the nation-state. He analyzes the conditions for the stability and success of absolutist rule as an arbiter between various social forces; he gives recommendations to the monarch on how to suppress the old tribal nobility, how to create a counterbalance to it in the new nobility, what tax policy to support the merchants, what measures to prevent discontent in the country and cope with popular unrest and uprisings. And at the same time, in the interests of the middle class, he advocates the maintenance of trade and a favorable balance of trade, the regulation of prices and the restriction of luxury, the encouragement of manufactories and the improvement of agriculture. And although much can be gleaned from the Essays about Bacon's philosophical, ethical, and socio-political views, they belong to philosophy no more than to English literature. Their language and style are fictional. They contain expressive sketches from a whole exhibition of characters, morals, feelings and inclinations of people, revealing in their author a subtle psychologist, an expert on human souls, a captious and objective judge of actions.

In addition to the "Experiments" and works related to the development of the ideas of the "Great Restoration of Sciences", Bacon owns: an unfinished treatise "On the beginnings and origins in accordance with the myth of Cupid and the sky, or on the philosophy of Parmenides and Telesio, and especially Democritus in connection with the myth of Cupid” (1658, Russian translation 1937), in which Bacon expressed his approval of previous natural philosophy, especially its understanding of matter as an active principle; Sat. "On the Wisdom of the Ancients" (1609, Russian translation 1972), where he gave an allegorical interpretation of ancient myths in the spirit of his natural, moral and political philosophy; "History of the reign of King Henry VII" (1622, Russian translation 1990); a number of legal, political and theological works.

Baconian philosophy took shape in the atmosphere of the scientific and cultural upsurge of the late Renaissance and influenced an entire era of subsequent philosophical development. Despite the persistent elements of scholastic metaphysics and an incorrect assessment of some scientific ideas and discoveries (primarily Copernicus), Bacon vividly expressed the aspirations of the new science. From him originates the materialistic tradition in the philosophy of modern times and the direction of research, which later received the name "philosophy of science", and the utopian "House of Solomon" became in some way the prototype of European scientific societies and academies.

Compositions:

1. The Works. Collected and edited by J. Spedding, R. L. Ellis and D. D. Heath, v. 1–14. L., 1857–74;

2. in Russian trans.: Soch., v. 1–2. M., 1977–78.

Literature:

1. Macaulay. Lord Bacon. - Full. coll. soch., vol. 3. St. Petersburg, 1862;

2. Liebig Yu. F.Bacon Verulamsky and the method of natural science. SPb., 1866;

3. Fisher K. Real philosophy and its age. Francis Bacon of Verulam. SPb., 1870;

4. Gorodensky N. Francis Bacon, his doctrine of method and encyclopedia of sciences. Sergiev Posad, 1915;

5. Subbotnik S.F. F. Bacon. M., 1937;

6. Lunacharsky A.V. Francis Bacon. - Collection. soch., vol. 6. M., 1965;

7. Asmus V.F. Francis Bacon. - He is. Fav. philosopher, works, vol. 1, M., 1969;

8. Subbotin A.L. Francis Bacon. M., 1974;

9. Mikhalenko Yu.P. Francis Bacon and his teachings. M., 1975;

10. Adam Ch. Philosophie de François Bacon. P., 1890;

11. Broad C.D. The Philosophy of Francis Bacon. Cambr., 1926;

12. Frost W. Bacon und die Naturphilosophie... Munch., 1927;

13. Sturt M. Francis Bacon. L., 1932;

14. Farrington b. Francis Bacon: Philosopher of Industrial Science. N.Y., 1949;

15. Idem. The Philosophy of Francis Bacon. Chi., 1966;

16. Anderson F.H. Francis Bacon. His Career and His Thought. Los Ang., 1962.

The payment of 40 thousand pounds of a fine, and also deprived of the right to hold public office, participate in parliamentary meetings and be at court. However, for his merits, he was pardoned by King James I and released from the Tower two days later, avoiding a longer imprisonment; Bacon was also released from the fine. Then he was allowed to take his place in the House of Lords, to be at court, but his state activity was over; he retired to his estate and devoted the last years of his life exclusively to scientific and literary work.

Biography

early years

Francis Bacon was born on January 22, 1561, two years after the coronation of Elizabeth I, in the Yorkhouse mansion on the central London Strand, the son of Sir Nicholas Bacon and Anne Bacon (ur. Cook), daughter of the English humanist Anthony Cook, educator of the King of England and Ireland Edward VI. Anne Bacon was Nicholas' second wife and, in addition to Francis, they had an eldest son, Anthony. Francis and Anthony had three more paternal brothers - Edward, Nathaniel and Nicholas, children from their father's first wife - Jane Fearnley (d. 1552).

Ann was a well-educated person: she spoke ancient Greek and Latin, was interested in religious issues and translated various theological literature into English; she, Sir Nicholas, and their relatives (the Bacons, Cecilies, Russells, Cavendishes, Seymours, and Herberts) belonged to the "new nobility" devoted to the Tudors, as opposed to the old, recalcitrant tribal aristocracy.

Very little is known about Francis' childhood years; he did not differ in good health, and probably studied mainly at home. In April 1573 he entered Trinity College, Cambridge, and studied there for three years, along with his elder brother Anthony; their personal tutor was Dr. John Whitgift, the future Archbishop of Canterbury. Francis studied at college for about three years; leaving him, he took with him a dislike for the philosophy of Aristotle, which, in his opinion, was good for abstract disputes, but not for the benefit of human life.

On June 27, 1576, Francis and Anthony entered the Society of Teachers (lat. societate magistrorum) at Gray's Inn. A few months later, Francis was sent abroad, as part of the retinue of Sir Amyas Paulet, the English ambassador in Paris. France then experienced very turbulent times, which gave rich impressions to the young diplomatic worker, and food for thought. Some believe that the result was Bacon's Notes on the State of Christendom. Notes on the state of Christendom ) , which is usually included in his writings, but the publisher of Bacon's works, James Spedding, has shown that there is little reason to attribute this work to Bacon, but it is more likely that "Notes ..." belong to one of his brother Anthony's correspondents.

Start of professional activity

The sudden death of his father in February 1579 forced Bacon to return home to England. Sir Nicholas set aside a significant amount of money to buy real estate for his youngest son, Francis, but did not have time to fulfill his intention; as a result, he got only a fifth of the deferred amount. For Francis, this was not enough, and he began to borrow money. Subsequently, debts always hung over him. Also, it was necessary to find a job, and Bacon chose the law, settling in 1579 in his residence at Grace's Inn. Thus, Bacon began his professional life as a lawyer, but later became widely known as a philosopher-lawyer and advocate of the scientific revolution.

In 1580, Francis took the first step in his career by applying, through his uncle William Cecil, to appoint him to any position at court. The request was favorably accepted by the queen, but was not granted; the details of this case remain unknown. After working after that for two years at Grace's Inn, in 1582 Bacon received the position of junior barrister (Eng. outer barrister). In 1584 Bacon took a seat in Parliament for Melcombe in Dorsetshire.

His work is the foundation and popularization of the inductive methodology of scientific inquiry, often referred to as Bacon's method. Induction gains knowledge from the surrounding world through experiment, observation, and hypothesis testing. In the context of their time, such methods were used by alchemists. Bacon outlined his approach to the problems of science in the treatise New Organon, published in 1620. In this treatise, he proclaimed the goal of science to increase the power of man over nature, which he defined as soulless material, the purpose of which is to be used by man.

Bacon created a two-letter cipher, now called the Bacon cipher.

There is a "baconian version" unrecognized by the scientific community, attributing to Bacon the authorship of texts known as Shakespeare.

Bacon died after catching a cold during one of his physical experiments. Already seriously ill, in a last letter to one of his friends, Lord Arendel, he triumphantly reports that this experience was a success. The scientist was sure that science should give man power over nature and thereby improve his life.

scientific knowledge

In general, Bacon considered the great dignity of science almost self-evident and expressed this in his famous aphorism “Knowledge is power” (lat. Scientia potentia est).

However, there have been many attacks on science. After analyzing them, Bacon came to the conclusion that God did not forbid the knowledge of nature. On the contrary, he gave man a mind that yearns to know the universe. People only have to understand that there are two kinds of knowledge: 1) knowledge of good and evil, 2) knowledge of things created by God.

The knowledge of good and evil is forbidden to people. God gives it to them through the Bible. And man, on the contrary, must cognize created things with the help of his mind. This means that science should take its rightful place in the "kingdom of man." The purpose of science is to multiply the strength and power of people, to provide them with a rich and dignified life.

Method of knowledge

Pointing to the deplorable state of science, Bacon said that until now, discoveries have been made by chance, not methodically. There would be many more if the researchers were armed with the right method. The method is the way, the main means of research. Even a lame person walking on the road will overtake a healthy person running off-road.

Induction can be complete (perfect) and incomplete. Full induction means the regular repetition and exhaustibility of some property of the object in the experiment under consideration. Inductive generalizations start from the assumption that this will be the case in all similar cases. In this garden, all lilacs are white - a conclusion from annual observations during its flowering period.

Incomplete induction includes generalizations made on the basis of a study of not all cases, but only some (conclusion by analogy), because, as a rule, the number of all cases is practically unlimited, and theoretically it is impossible to prove their infinite number: all swans are white for us reliably until we see black individual. This conclusion is always probabilistic.

In trying to create a "true induction", Bacon was looking not only for facts confirming a certain conclusion, but also for facts refuting it. He thus armed natural science with two means of investigation: enumeration and exclusion. And it is the exceptions that matter most. With the help of his method, for example, he established that the "form" of heat is the movement of the smallest particles of the body.

So, in his theory of knowledge, Bacon rigorously pursued the idea that true knowledge follows from sensory experience. Such a philosophical position is called empiricism. Bacon was not only its founder, but also the most consistent empiricist.

Obstacles in the way of knowledge

Francis Bacon divided the sources of human error that stand in the way of knowledge into four groups, which he called "ghosts" or "idols" (lat. idola) . These are “ghosts of the family”, “ghosts of the cave”, “ghosts of the square” and “ghosts of the theater”.

1. The "ghosts of the race" stem from human nature itself, they do not depend on culture or on the individuality of a person. “The human mind is likened to an uneven mirror, which, mixing its own nature with the nature of things, reflects things in a distorted and disfigured form.”
2. "Ghosts of the cave" are individual errors of perception, both congenital and acquired. “After all, in addition to the mistakes inherent in the human race, everyone has their own special cave, which weakens and distorts the light of nature.”
3. "Ghosts of the square (market)" - a consequence of the social nature of man - communication and use of language in communication. “People are united by speech. Words are established according to the understanding of the crowd. Therefore, the bad and absurd establishment of words surprisingly besieges the mind.
4. "Phantoms of the theater" are false ideas about the structure of reality that a person assimilates from other people. “At the same time, we mean here not only general philosophical teachings, but also numerous principles and axioms of sciences, which have received strength as a result of tradition, faith and carelessness.”

Followers

The most significant followers of the empirical line in the philosophy of modern times: Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, George Berkeley, David Hume - in England; Étienne Condillac, Claude Helvetius, Paul Holbach, Denis Diderot - in France. The preacher of F. Bacon's empiricism was also the Slovak philosopher Jan Bayer.

Compositions

• « " (1st edition, 1597),
• « On the dignity and multiplication of sciences"(1605),
• « Experiments, or instructions, moral and political"(2nd edition, - 38 essays, 1612),
• « The Great Restoration of the Sciences, or the New Organon"(1620),
• « Experiments, or instructions, moral and political» (3rd edition, - 58 essays, 1625)
• « New Atlantis» (1627).

Image in modern culture

To the cinema

• "Queen Elizabeth" / "Les amours de la reine Élisabeth" (France;) directors Henri Defontaine and Louis Mercanton, in the role of Lord Bacon - Jean Chamroy.

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Notes

1. entry in Collins English Dictionary, HarperCollins Publishers, 1998.
2. , With. 11-13.
3. , With. 14.
4. , With. 14-15.
5. .
6. .
7. .
8. , With. 6.
9. , With. 135.
10. , With. 7.
11. Subbotin A. L. translated as "Notes on the state of Europe."
12. , With. 136.
13. There are two translation options. “The term “idolum” originally (in Greek) meant “ghost”, “shadow of the deceased”, “vision”. In medieval ecclesiastical Latin, it meant "figure of a god", "idol". F. Bacon returns to the original expression of the term, meaning a ghost that leads human knowledge onto a false path ”(I. S. Narsky // Bacon F. Works: In 2 vols. T. 2. M., 1978. P. 521).
14. See Aphorisms Concerning the Interpretation of Nature and the Kingdom of Man, XLI-XLIV.

Literature

• Bacon F. History of the reign of King Henry VII. M.: Nauka, 1990, 328 p., 25,000 copies, (Monuments of historical thought). ISBN 5-02-008973-7
• Liebig Yu. F. Bacon of Verulamsky and the method of natural science. SPb., 1866.
• Litvinova E. F. F. Bacon. His life, scientific works and social activities. SPb., 1891.
• // Encyclopædia Britannica. - ELEVENTH EDITION. - 1911. - Vol. 3. - P. 135-143.
• Gorodensky N. Francis Bacon, his doctrine of method and encyclopedia of sciences. Sergiev Posad, 1915.
• Ivantsov N. A. Francis Bacon and its historical significance.// Questions of Philosophy and Psychology. Book. 49. S. 560-599.
• Putilov S. Secrets of the “New Atlantis” by F. Bacon // Our contemporary.1993. No. 2. S. 171-176.
• Saprykin D. L. Regnum Hominis. (Francis Bacon's imperial project). M.: Indrik. 2001
• Subbotin A.L. Shakespeare and Bacon // Questions of Philosophy.1964. No. 2.
• Francis Bacon and the principles of his philosophy // Francis Bacon: Works in two volumes / Comp., general ed. and enter. article - A. L. Subbotin (translated by N. A. Fedorov, Ya. M. Borovsky). - M .: Academy of Sciences of the USSR, publishing house of social economics. literature "Thought", 1971. - T. 1. - S. 5-55. - 590 p. - (Philosophical heritage). - 35,000 copies
• Subbotin A. L. Francis Bacon. M.: Thought, 1974. - 175 p.
• Khramov Yu. A. Bacon Francis // Physicists: A Biographical Guide / Ed. A. I. Akhiezer. - Ed. 2nd, rev. and additional - M .: Nauka, 1983. - 400 p. - 200,000 copies.(in trans.)
• M.A.P.. - Date of access: 09/18/2016. (© Crown copyright and The History of Parliament Trust 1964-2016, Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1558-1603, ed. P.W. Hasler, 1981.)
• G.M.C.. - Date of access: 09/18/2016. (© Crown copyright and The History of Parliament Trust 1964-2016, Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1558-1603, ed. P.W. Hasler, 1981.)
• M. W. Helms, Paula Watson, John. P. Ferris.. - Date of access: 09/21/2016. (© Crown copyright and The History of Parliament Trust 1964-2016, Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1660-1690, ed. B.D. Henning, 1983.)

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An excerpt characterizing Bacon, Francis

At that moment, Count Rostopchin, in a general's uniform, with a ribbon over his shoulder, with his protruding chin and quick eyes, entered with quick steps in front of the parting crowd of nobles.
- Sovereign Emperor will be here now, - said Rostopchin, - I have just come from there. I believe that in the position we are in, there is not much to judge. The sovereign deigned to gather us and the merchants, - said Count Rostopchin. “Millions will pour out from there (he pointed to the merchants’ hall), and our business is to set up a militia and not spare ourselves ... This is the least we can do!
Meetings began between some nobles who were sitting at the table. The entire meeting passed more than quietly. It even seemed sad when, after all the previous noise, old voices were heard one by one, saying one: “I agree”, another for a change: “I am of the same opinion”, etc.
The secretary was ordered to write a decree of the Moscow nobility that Muscovites, like the Smolensk people, donate ten people out of a thousand and full uniforms. The gentlemen in the meeting got up, as if relieved, rattled their chairs and went around the hall to stretch their legs, taking some by the arm and talking.
- Sovereign! Sovereign! - suddenly spread through the halls, and the whole crowd rushed to the exit.
On a wide course, between the wall of the nobles, the sovereign passed into the hall. All faces showed respectful and frightened curiosity. Pierre stood quite far away and could not quite hear the sovereign's speech. He only understood, from what he heard, that the sovereign was talking about the danger in which the state was, and about the hopes that he placed on the Moscow nobility. The sovereign was answered by another voice, announcing the decision of the nobility that had just taken place.
- Lord! - said the trembling voice of the sovereign; the crowd rustled and again fell silent, and Pierre clearly heard the so pleasantly human and touched voice of the sovereign, who said: - I never doubted the zeal of the Russian nobility. But on this day, it exceeded my expectations. I thank you on behalf of the fatherland. Gentlemen, let's act - time is more precious than anything ...
The sovereign fell silent, the crowd began to crowd around him, and enthusiastic exclamations were heard from all sides.
“Yes, the most precious thing is ... the royal word,” the voice of Ilya Andreevich spoke from behind, sobbing, who did not hear anything, but understood everything in his own way.
From the hall of the nobility the sovereign passed into the hall of the merchants. He stayed there for about ten minutes. Pierre, among others, saw the sovereign leaving the hall of the merchants with tears of tenderness in his eyes. As they later found out, the sovereign had just begun a speech to the merchants, as tears splashed from his eyes, and he finished it in a trembling voice. When Pierre saw the sovereign, he went out, accompanied by two merchants. One was familiar to Pierre, a fat farmer, the other was a head, with a thin, narrow-bearded, yellow face. Both of them were crying. The thin one was in tears, but the fat farmer sobbed like a child, and kept repeating:
- And take life and property, your majesty!
At that moment, Pierre felt nothing but a desire to show that everything was nothing to him and that he was ready to sacrifice everything. His speech with a constitutional direction seemed to him like a reproach; he was looking for an opportunity to make amends. Upon learning that Count Mamonov was donating the regiment, Bezukhov immediately announced to Count Rostopchin that he was giving away a thousand people and their maintenance.
Old man Rostov could not tell his wife what had happened without tears, and immediately agreed to Petya's request and went himself to record it.
The next day the sovereign left. All the assembled nobles took off their uniforms, again settled in their houses and clubs and, groaning, gave orders to the managers about the militia, and were surprised at what they had done.

Napoleon started the war with Russia because he could not help coming to Dresden, he could not help being misled by honors, he could not help but put on a Polish uniform, he could not help but succumb to the enterprising impression of a June morning, he could not refrain from a flash of anger in the presence of Kurakin and then Balashev.
Alexander refused all negotiations because he personally felt offended. Barclay de Tolly tried to manage the army in the best possible way in order to fulfill his duty and earn the glory of the great commander. Rostov rode to attack the French because he could not resist the desire to ride on a level field. And so precisely, due to their personal characteristics, habits, conditions and goals, all those innumerable persons who participated in this war acted. They were afraid, conceited, rejoiced, indignant, reasoned, believing that they knew what they were doing and what they were doing for themselves, and all were involuntary tools of history and carried out work hidden from them, but understandable to us. Such is the unchanging fate of all practical workers, and the more they are placed in the human hierarchy, it is not freer.
Now the figures of 1812 have long since left their places, their personal interests have vanished without a trace, and only the historical results of that time are before us.
But suppose that the people of Europe, under the leadership of Napoleon, had to go into the depths of Russia and die there, and all the self-contradictory, senseless, cruel activity of the people - participants in this war, becomes understandable to us.
Providence forced all these people, striving to achieve their personal goals, to contribute to the fulfillment of one huge result, about which not a single person (neither Napoleon, nor Alexander, nor even less any of the participants in the war) had the slightest expectation.
Now it is clear to us what was the cause of the death of the French army in 1812. No one will argue that the cause of the death of Napoleon's French troops was, on the one hand, their entry at a later time without preparation for a winter campaign deep into Russia, and on the other hand, the character that the war assumed from the burning of Russian cities and inciting hatred for the enemy in the Russian people. But then, not only did no one foresee the fact (which now seems obvious) that only in this way could the eight hundred thousandth, the best in the world and led by the best commander, die in a collision with twice as weak, inexperienced and led by inexperienced commanders - the Russian army; Not only did no one foresee this, but all efforts on the part of the Russians were constantly directed towards preventing that which alone could save Russia, and on the part of the French, despite the experience and so-called military genius of Napoleon, all efforts were directed towards this. to stretch out to Moscow at the end of the summer, that is, to do the very thing that was supposed to destroy them.
In historical writings about 1812, French authors are very fond of talking about how Napoleon felt the danger of stretching his line, how he was looking for battles, how his marshals advised him to stop in Smolensk, and give other similar arguments proving that then they already seemed to understand there was the danger of the campaign; and Russian authors are even more fond of talking about how, from the beginning of the campaign, there was a plan for the Scythian war to lure Napoleon into the depths of Russia, and they attribute this plan to some Pful, some to some Frenchman, some to Tolya, some to Emperor Alexander himself, pointing to notes, projects and letters that actually contain hints of this course of action. But all these allusions to the foresight of what happened, both on the part of the French and on the part of the Russians, are now put forward only because the event justified them. If the event had not taken place, then these hints would have been forgotten, just as thousands and millions of opposite hints and assumptions are now forgotten, which were in use then, but turned out to be unjust and therefore forgotten. There are always so many assumptions about the outcome of each occurring event that, no matter how it ends, there will always be people who will say: “I then said that it would be so,” completely forgetting that among the countless assumptions there were made and completely opposite.
Assumptions about Napoleon's consciousness of the danger of stretching the line on the part of the Russians - about luring the enemy into the depths of Russia - obviously belong to this category, and historians can only at a great stretch attribute such considerations to Napoleon and his marshals and such plans to Russian military leaders. All facts completely contradict such assumptions. Not only throughout the war, the Russians had no desire to lure the French into the depths of Russia, but everything was done to stop them from their first entry into Russia, and not only Napoleon was not afraid of stretching his line, but he was glad how triumph, every step forward and very lazily, not like in his previous campaigns, he looked for battles.
At the very beginning of the campaign, our armies are slashed, and our only aim is to link them up, although there is no advantage in linking up armies to retreat and draw the enemy inland. The emperor is with the army to inspire it in defending every step of the Russian land, and not to retreat. A huge Drissa camp is being set up according to the plan of Pfuel and it is not supposed to retreat further. The sovereign reproaches the commander-in-chief for every step of retreat. Not only the burning of Moscow, but the admission of the enemy to Smolensk cannot even be imagined by the emperor’s imagination, and when the armies unite, the sovereign is indignant that Smolensk was taken and burned and not given before the walls of his general battle.
So the sovereign thinks, but Russian military leaders and all Russian people are even more indignant at the thought that ours are retreating into the interior of the country.
Napoleon, having cut the armies, moves inland and misses several cases of battle. In the month of August he is in Smolensk and thinks only about how he can go further, although, as we now see, this movement forward is obviously fatal for him.
The facts clearly show that neither Napoleon foresaw the danger in moving towards Moscow, nor did Alexander and the Russian military leaders then think about luring Napoleon, but thought about the opposite. The lure of Napoleon into the interior of the country did not happen according to anyone's plan (no one believed in the possibility of this), but came from a complex game of intrigues, goals, desires of people - participants in the war, who did not guess what should be, and what was the only salvation of Russia. Everything happens by accident. The armies are cut at the start of the campaign. We try to combine them with the obvious goal of giving battle and holding the enemy's advance, but even in this desire to unite, avoiding battles with the strongest enemy and involuntarily retreating at an acute angle, we lead the French to Smolensk. But it’s not enough to say that we are withdrawing at an acute angle because the French are moving between both armies - this angle is becoming even sharper, and we are moving even further because Barclay de Tolly, an unpopular German, is hated by Bagration (who has to become under his command ), and Bagration, commanding the 2nd Army, tries not to join Barclay for as long as possible, so as not to become under his command. Bagration does not join for a long time (although this is the main goal of all commanding persons) because it seems to him that on this march he puts his army in danger and that it is most advantageous for him to retreat to the left and south, harassing the enemy from the flank and rear and completing his army in Ukraine. And it seems that he invented it because he does not want to obey the hated and junior rank German Barclay.
The emperor is with the army to inspire it, and his presence and ignorance of what to decide on, and a huge number of advisers and plans destroy the energy of the actions of the 1st army, and the army retreats.
It is supposed to stop in the Dris camp; but unexpectedly Pauluchi, aiming for the commander-in-chief, with his energy acts on Alexander, and the whole plan of Pfuel is abandoned, and the whole thing is entrusted to Barclay. But since Barclay does not inspire confidence, his power is limited.
The armies are fragmented, there is no unity of the authorities, Barclay is not popular; but from this confusion, fragmentation and unpopularity of the German commander-in-chief, on the one hand, indecisiveness and avoidance of battle (which could not be resisted if the armies were together and Barclay were not the head), on the other hand, more and more resentment against the Germans and arousal of the patriotic spirit.
Finally, the sovereign leaves the army, and as the only and most convenient pretext for his departure, the idea is chosen that he needs to inspire the people in the capitals to initiate a people's war. And this trip of the sovereign and Moscow triples the strength of the Russian army.
The sovereign leaves the army in order not to hamper the unity of power of the commander in chief, and hopes that more decisive measures will be taken; but the position of the commanders of the armies is still more confused and weakened. Bennigsen, the Grand Duke and a swarm of adjutant generals remain with the army in order to monitor the actions of the commander in chief and excite him to energy, and Barclay, feeling even less free under the eyes of all these sovereign eyes, becomes even more cautious for decisive action and avoids battles.
Barclay stands for caution. The Tsarevich hints at treason and demands a general battle. Lubomirsky, Branitsky, Vlotsky and the like stir up all this noise so much that Barclay, under the pretext of delivering papers to the sovereign, sends the Poles to the adjutant generals in Petersburg and enters into an open struggle with Bennigsen and the Grand Duke.
In Smolensk, finally, no matter how Bagration did not want it, the armies unite.
Bagration in a carriage drives up to the house occupied by Barclay. Barclay puts on a scarf, goes out to meet v reports to the senior rank of Bagration. Bagration, in the struggle of generosity, despite the seniority of the rank, submits to Barclay; but, having obeyed, agrees with him even less. Bagration personally, by order of the sovereign, informs him. He writes to Arakcheev: “The will of my sovereign, I can’t do it together with the minister (Barclay). For God's sake, send me somewhere to command a regiment, but I can't be here; and the whole main apartment is filled with Germans, so that it is impossible for a Russian to live, and there is no sense. I thought I truly served the sovereign and the fatherland, but in reality it turns out that I serve Barclay. I confess I don't want to." A swarm of Branicki, Winzingerode and the like poisons the relations of the commanders-in-chief even more, and even less unity comes out. They are going to attack the French in front of Smolensk. A general is sent to inspect the position. This general, hating Barclay, goes to his friend, the corps commander, and after spending a day with him, returns to Barclay and condemns on all counts the future battlefield, which he has not seen.
While there are disputes and intrigues about the future battlefield, while we are looking for the French, having made a mistake in their location, the French stumble upon Neverovsky's division and approach the very walls of Smolensk.
We must accept an unexpected battle in Smolensk in order to save our messages. The battle is given. Thousands are killed on both sides.
Smolensk is abandoned against the will of the sovereign and the whole people. But Smolensk was burned down by the inhabitants themselves, deceived by their governor, and the devastated inhabitants, setting an example for other Russians, go to Moscow, thinking only of their losses and inciting hatred for the enemy. Napoleon goes further, we retreat, and the very thing that was supposed to defeat Napoleon is achieved.

The next day after the departure of his son, Prince Nikolai Andreevich called Princess Marya to him.
- Well, are you satisfied now? - he said to her, - quarreled with her son! Satisfied? All you needed was! Satisfied?.. It hurts me, it hurts. I'm old and weak, and you wanted it. Well, rejoice, rejoice ... - And after that, Princess Marya did not see her father for a week. He was sick and did not leave the office.
To her surprise, Princess Mary noticed that during this time of illness, the old prince also did not allow m lle Bourienne to see him. One Tikhon followed him.
A week later, the prince came out and began his former life again, with special activities engaged in buildings and gardens and ending all previous relations with m lle Bourienne. His appearance and cold tone with Princess Mary seemed to say to her: “You see, you invented a lie to Prince Andrei about my relationship with this Frenchwoman and quarreled with me; and you see that I don't need you or the Frenchwoman."
Princess Mary spent one half of the day at Nikolushka's, following his lessons, herself giving him lessons in Russian and music, and talking with Desalle; the other part of the day she spent in her half with books, with the old nurse, and with God's people, who sometimes came to her from the back porch.

Francis Bacon- English philosopher, politician, historian, founder of English materialism, empiricism, was born in the family of Lord Nicholas Bacon, keeper of the royal seal, viscount, who was considered one of the most famous lawyers of his time. It happened on January 22, 1561 in London. Physical weakness, sickness of the boy was combined with extreme curiosity and outstanding abilities. At 12, Francis is already a student at Trinity College, Cambridge. Getting an education within the framework of the old scholastic system, the young Bacon already then came to the idea of ​​the need to reform the sciences.

After graduating from college, the newly minted diplomat worked in various European countries as part of the British mission. In 1579, he had to return to his homeland due to the death of his father. Francis, who did not receive a large inheritance, joined the Grace Inn Law Corporation, was actively involved in jurisprudence and philosophy. In 1586, he headed the corporation, but neither this circumstance, nor the appointment to the post of extraordinary Queen's Counsel could not satisfy the ambitious Bacon, who began to look for all possible ways to obtain a profitable position at court.

He was only 23 years old when he was elected to the House of Commons of Parliament, where he gained fame as a brilliant orator, led the opposition for a while, because of which he later justified himself before the powers that be. In 1598, the work that made Francis Bacon famous was published - "Experiments and Instructions, Moral and Political" - a collection of essays in which the author raised a variety of topics, for example, happiness, death, superstition, etc.

In 1603, King James I came to the throne, and from that moment on, Bacon's political career began to rapidly go uphill. If in 1600 he was a staff lawyer, then already in 1612 he got the position of Attorney General, in 1618 he became Lord Chancellor. This period of biography was fruitful not only in terms of gaining positions at court, but also in terms of philosophical and literary creativity. In 1605, a treatise was published entitled "On the Significance and Success of Knowledge, Divine and Human", which was the first part of his large-scale multi-stage plan "The Great Restoration of Sciences". In 1612, the second edition, substantially revised and supplemented, of "Experiments and Instructions" was prepared. The second part of the main work, which remained unfinished, was the philosophical treatise "New Organon" written in 1620, which is considered one of the best in his legacy. The main idea is the boundlessness of progress in human development, the exaltation of man as the main driving force of this process.

In 1621, Bacon, as a politician and public figure, had very big troubles connected with accusations of bribery and abuse. As a result, he escaped with only a few days in prison and was acquitted, but his career as a politician was henceforth a fat cross. Since that time, Francis Bacon devoted himself entirely to research, experimentation, and other creative work. In particular, a code of English laws was drawn up; he worked on the history of the country under the Tudor dynasty, on the third edition of "Experiments and Instructions".

During 1623-1624. Bacon wrote the utopian novel The New Atlantis, which remained unfinished and was published after his death in 1627. In it, the writer anticipated many discoveries of the future, for example, the creation of submarines, the improvement of animal breeds, the transmission of light and sound over a distance. Bacon was the first thinker whose philosophy was based on empirical knowledge. It is to him that the famous phrase “Knowledge is power” belongs. The death of the 66-year-old philosopher was a logical continuation of his life: he caught a very bad cold, wanting to make another experiment. The organism could not stand the disease, and on April 9, 1626, Bacon died.

Biography from Wikipedia

Francis Bacon(English Francis Bacon, (/ˈbeɪkən/); (January 22, 1561 - April 9, 1626) - English philosopher, historian, politician, founder of empiricism and English materialism. One of the first major philosophers of the New Age, Bacon was a supporter of the scientific approach and developed new, anti-scholastic method of scientific knowledge. He opposed the dogmatic deduction of the scholastics with an inductive method based on a rational analysis of experimental data. Main works: "Experiments, or moral and political instructions", "On the dignity and multiplication of sciences", "New Organon", "New Atlantis".

From the age of 20 he sat in parliament. A major statesman under King James I, who favored Bacon and even entrusted him to manage the state during his departure to Scotland. Since 1617, Lord Privy Seal, then Lord Chancellor and Peer of England - Baron Verulamsky and Viscount St. Albansky. In 1621, he was brought to trial on charges of bribery, sentenced to imprisonment in the Tower, paying a fine of 40 thousand pounds, and also deprived of the right to hold public office, participate in parliamentary meetings and be at court. However, for his merits, he was pardoned by King James I and released from the Tower two days later, avoiding a longer imprisonment; he was also released from the fine. Bacon had the hope of returning to big politics, but the highest authorities had a different opinion, and his state activity was over. He retired to his estate and devoted the last years of his life exclusively to scientific and literary work.

early years

Francis Bacon was born on January 22, 1561 into an English noble family, two years after the coronation of Elizabeth I, at the Yorkhouse mansion, the London residence of his father, one of the country's most senior nobles - the Lord Chancellor, Lord Keeper of the Great Seal Sir Nicholas Bacon. Francis's mother, Anne (Anna) Bacon (ur. Cook), daughter of the English humanist Anthony Cook, educator of King Edward VI of England and Ireland, was the second wife of Nicholas, and, in addition to Francis, they had an eldest son, Anthony. Francis and Anthony had three more paternal brothers - Edward, Nathaniel and Nicholas, children from his father's first wife - Jane Fearnley (d. 1552).

Ann was a well-educated person: she spoke ancient Greek and Latin, as well as French and Italian; being a zealous puritan, she personally knew the leading Calvinist theologians of England and continental Europe, corresponded with them, translated various theological literature into English; she, Sir Nicholas and their relatives (the Bacons, Cecilies, Russells, Cavendishes, Seymours and Herberts) belonged to the "new nobility" devoted to the Tudors, in contrast to the old obstinate tribal aristocracy. Anne constantly encouraged her children to strictly observe religious observances, along with a thorough study of theological doctrines. One of Anne's sisters, Mildred, was married to the first minister of the Elizabethan government, Lord Treasurer William Cecil, Baron Burghley, to whom Francis Bacon later often turned for help in his career advancement, and after the death of the baron, to his second son Robert.

Very little is known about Francis' childhood years; he did not differ in good health, and probably studied mainly at home, the atmosphere of which was filled with talk about the intrigues of "big politics". The combination of personal affairs with state problems from childhood distinguished Francis' way of life, which allowed A. I. Herzen to notice: “Bacon sharpened his mind with public affairs, he learned to think in public”.

In April 1573 he entered Holy Trinity College, Cambridge, and studied there for three years, along with his elder brother Anthony; their personal teacher was Dr. John Whitgift, the future Archbishop of Canterbury. The courtiers, as well as Elizabeth I herself, who often talked to him and jokingly called him the young Lord Keeper, drew attention to Francis's abilities and good manners. After leaving college, the future philosopher took with him a dislike for the philosophy of Aristotle, which, in his opinion, was good for abstract disputes, but not for the benefit of human life.

On June 27, 1576, Francis and Anthony entered the Society of Teachers (lat. societate magistrorum) at Gray's Inn. A few months later, thanks to the patronage of his father, who thus wanted to prepare his son for the service of the state, Francis was sent abroad, as part of the retinue of Sir Amyas Paulet, the English ambassador to France, where, in addition to Paris, Francis was in Blois, Tours and Poitiers.

France then experienced very turbulent times, which gave rich impressions to the young diplomatic worker, and food for thought. Some believe that the result was Bacon's Notes on the state of Christendom, which is usually included in his writings, but the publisher of Bacon's writings, James Spedding, has shown that there is little reason to attribute this work to Bacon, but it is more likely that "Notes ..." belong to one of his brother Anthony's correspondents.

Start of professional activity

The sudden death of his father in February 1579 forced Bacon to return home to England. Sir Nicholas set aside a significant amount of money to buy him real estate, but did not have time to fulfill his intention; as a result, Francis got only a fifth of the amount set aside. This was not enough for him, and he began to borrow money. Subsequently, debts always hung over him. Also, it was necessary to find a job, and Bacon chose the law, settling in 1579 in his residence at Grace's Inn. Thus, Bacon began his professional career as a lawyer, but later became widely known as a politician, writer and philosopher, and defender of the scientific revolution.

In 1580, Francis took the first step in his career by petitioning, through his uncle William Cecil, for a position at court. The queen favorably accepted this request, but did not grant it; the details of this case remain unknown. And subsequently, Her Majesty was disposed towards the philosopher, consulted with him on legal and other issues of public service, graciously talked, but this did not result in either material incentives or career advancement. After working after that for two years at Grace Inn, in 1582 Bacon received the position of junior barrister (English outer barrister).

Parliamentarian

Bacon sat permanently in the House of Commons from 1581 until his election to the House of Lords. In 1581, the first session of Parliament took place with the participation of Francis. He won his seat there from the Bossini constituency through a by-election, and no doubt with the help of his godfather. He did not sit for a full term; no mention remains of Bacon's activities during this period in the parliamentary journals. In 1584 Bacon took a seat in Parliament for the Borough of Melcombe in Dorsetshire, in 1586 for the Borough of Taunton, in 1589 for the Borough of Liverpool, in 1593 for Middlesex, in 1597, 1601 and 1604 for Ipswich, and in 1614 - from the University of Cambridge.

On December 9, 1584, Bacon spoke of a bill concerning the Houses of Parliament and was also appointed to the committee of informers. During his third term in Parliament, on November 3, 1586, Bacon advocated the punishment of Mary Queen of Scots, and on November 4 participated in the committee to draw up a petition for her trial.

The parliamentary session of 1593 began on 19 February. The convening of Parliament was due to the Queen's need for funds in the face of a military threat from Spain. The Lords, as representatives of the Upper House, put forward a proposal to pay three subsidies for three years, then softened to four years, with the usual practice of paying one subsidy for two years, and Bacon, as a representative of the Lower House, asserting its right to determine the amount of subsidies for the royal court regardless of the lords, opposed, saying that the tribute offered by the court and the lords is great, will lay an unbearable burden on the payers, as a result of which "... gentlemen should sell their silver dishes, and farmers - copper" and all this will do more harm than good. Francis was an outstanding orator, his speeches made an impression on his contemporaries; characterizing him as a speaker, the English playwright, poet and actor Ben Jonson noted: “Never a single person spoke deeper, more weighty or allowed less vanity, less windiness in his speech ... Everyone who listened to him was only afraid that the speech would end”.

In the course of the debate, Bacon entered into opposition, first with the House of Lords, and then, in fact, with the court itself. What he proposed specifically himself is unknown, but he planned to distribute the payment of subsidies over six years, with a note that the last subsidy was extraordinary. Robert Burley, as a representative of the House of Lords, asked for an explanation from the philosopher, to which he stated that he had the right to speak according to his conscience. Nevertheless, the request of the lords was granted: the payment was approved equal to three subsidies and the accompanying six fifteenths in four years, and the philosopher fell out of favor with the court and the queen: he had to make excuses.

The Parliament of 1597-1598 was assembled in connection with the difficult social and economic situation in England; Bacon initiated two bills: on the increase of arable land and on the growth of the rural population, which provided for the conversion of arable land, converted into pastures as a result of the enclosure policy, back into arable land. This corresponded to the aspirations of the British government, which wanted to keep a strong peasantry in the country's villages - the yeomanry, which is a significant source of replenishment of the royal treasury through taxes. At the same time, with the preservation and even growth of the rural population, the intensity of social conflicts should have decreased. After heated debate and numerous meetings with the lords, completely revised bills were adopted.

The first parliament, convened under James I, acted for almost 7 years: from March 19, 1604 to February 9, 1611. Francis Bacon was named among the names of likely candidates for the post of speaker by the representatives of the House of Commons. However, according to tradition, the royal court nominated the candidate for this post, and this time he insisted on his candidacy, and the landowner Sir Edward Philips became the Speaker of the House of Commons.

After Bacon became Attorney General in 1613, Parliamentarians announced that in the future the Attorney General should not sit in the House of Commons, but an exception was made for Bacon.

Further career and scientific activity

In the 1580s, Bacon wrote the philosophical essay “The Greatest Creation of Time” (lat. Temporis Partus Maximus), which has not survived to our time, in which he outlined a plan for a general reform of science and described a new, inductive method of cognition.

In 1586, Bacon became the foreman of the legal corporation - bencher (eng. Bencher), not least thanks to the assistance of his uncle, William Cecil, Baron Burghley. This was followed by his appointment as Queen's Counsel Extraordinary (although this position was not provided with a salary), and, in 1589, Bacon was enlisted as a candidate for the registrar of the Star Chamber. This place could bring him 1,600 pounds a year, but he could take it only after 20 years; at present, the only benefit was that it was now easier to borrow. Dissatisfied with his promotion, Bacon makes repeated requests to his Cecil relatives; in one of the letters to the Lord Treasurer, Baron Burghley, there is a hint that his career is being secretly hindered: “And if Your Grace thinks now or someday that I am seeking and seeking a position in which you yourself are interested, then you can call me the most dishonorable person.”.

In his younger years, Francis was fond of the theater: for example, in 1588, with his participation, the students of Grace Inn wrote and staged the play-mask "The Troubles of King Arthur" - the first adaptation for the stage of the English theater of the story of the legendary King of the Britons Arthur. In 1594, at Christmas in Gray's Inn, another masked performance was staged with the participation of Bacon, as one of the authors - "Acts of the Greyites" (lat. Gesta Grayorum). In this performance, Bacon expressed the ideas of “conquering the creations of nature”, discovering and exploring its secrets, which were later developed in his philosophical works and literary and journalistic essays, for example, in New Atlantis.

In the late 1580s, Bacon met Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex (or simply the Earl of Essex), whose philosopher's brother Anthony served as secretary. Relations are established, they can be characterized by the formula "friendship-patronage", in other words, the count, being one of the queen's favorites, becomes the patron of the lawyer-philosopher: he tries to promote him in the service, using all his influence for this. Also, Bacon himself continues to turn to the Cecils for help in advancing his career. But so far, neither one nor the other brings results. Bacon, in turn, shares his professional skills and knowledge with the Earl of Essex: he writes various projects and proposals for him, which he already submits on his own behalf to Queen Elizabeth for consideration.

In 1594, Bacon, with the support of the Earl of Essex, tried to get the position of Attorney General, but at court they remembered the opposition speech of the philosopher during the parliamentary session of 1593, as a result, a year later, the lawyer Edward Cock received this position, releasing his post as Advocate General of the Crown. Bacon tried to get a vacant lawyer's post, however, despite assurances of loyalty, also to no avail. The petitions of the Earl of Essex could also play a negative role due to the deteriorating relationship of the Earl with Queen Elizabeth I.

From that time on, Kok and Bacon became rivals, so that their confrontation was called "one of the constant factors of English political life for 30 years". The situation was aggravated by the failure of the philosopher in his personal life: the wealthy widow Lady Hutton, whom he courted, preferred Edward Coke and married him.

To brighten up the failures, the Earl of Essex gives the philosopher a plot of land in Twickenham Forest Park, which Bacon subsequently sold for 1,800 pounds sterling.

In 1597, the philosopher publishes his first literary work, “Experiments and Instructions, Moral and Political,” which were repeatedly reprinted in subsequent years. In a dedication addressed to his brother, the author feared that the "Experiments" "they will be like ... new halfpenny coins, which, although the silver in them is full, are very small". The 1597 edition contained 10 short essays; subsequently, in new editions of publications, the author increased their number and diversified the subject, while emphasizing political aspects more noticeably - for example, the 1612 edition already contained 38 essays, and the 1625 edition contained 58. In total, during the author’s lifetime, three editions of “Experiments ". The book was liked by the public, was translated into Latin, French and Italian; the author's fame spread, but his financial situation remained difficult. It got to the point that he was detained on the street and taken to the police on the complaint of one of the goldsmiths because of a debt of 300 pounds.

On February 8, 1601, the Earl of Essex, along with his associates, opposed the royal power, taking to the streets of London and heading for the City. Having received no support from the townspeople, he and other leaders of this speech were arrested that night, imprisoned and then brought to trial. Francis Bacon was also included in the composition of the judges. The count was found guilty of treason and sentenced to death. After the execution of the sentence, Bacon writes a Declaration on the criminal acts of Robert, "the former Earl of Essex." Before its official publication, the original version has undergone significant editing and changes made by the queen and her advisers. It is definitely not known how this document was accepted by contemporaries, the author of which accuses his friend, but, wanting to justify himself, the philosopher in 1604 wrote an “Apology” describing his actions and relations with the count.

Reign of James I

In March 1603, Elizabeth I died; James I ascended the throne, he is also King James VI of Scotland, who, from the moment he ascended to London, became the ruler of two independent states at once. On July 23rd, 1603, Bacon received a knighthood; the same title was awarded to almost 300 other persons. As a result, in two months under James I, as many people were knighted as in the last ten years of the reign of Elizabeth I.

In the interval before the opening of the first parliament under James I, the philosopher was engaged in literary work, trying to interest the king with his political and scientific ideas. He presented two treatises to him: on the Anglo-Scottish union and on measures to appease the church. Francis Bacon also supported the union in the parliamentary debates of 1606-1607.

In 1604, Bacon received the post of full-time Queen's Counsel, and on June 25, 1607, he took the post of Solicitor General with an income of about a thousand pounds a year. At that time, Bacon was not yet an adviser to James I, and his cousin Robert Cecil had access to the "ear" of the sovereign. In 1608, as a solicitor, Bacon decided on the "automatic" mutual naturalization of Scots and Englishmen born after the coronation of James I: both became citizens of both states (England and Scotland) and acquired the corresponding rights. Bacon's argument was recognized by 10 judges out of 12.

In 1605, Bacon published his first significant philosophical work: "Two Books on the Restoration of the Sciences", which was an outline of the work "On the Dignity and Multiplication of the Sciences" published 18 years later. In the preface to "Two Books ..." the author did not skimp on abundant praise of James I, which was a common occurrence for the then literary practice of humanists. In 1609, the work "On the Wisdom of the Ancients" was published, which is a collection of miniatures.

In 1608, the philosopher becomes the registrar of the Star Chamber, taking the place for which he was appointed as a candidate under Elizabeth I, in 1589; as a result, his annual income from the royal court amounted to the amount of 3.200 pounds.

In 1613, the opportunity finally arose for a more significant career advancement. After the death of Sir Thomas Fleming, the position of Chief Justice of the King became vacant, and Bacon proposed to the King that Edward Coke be transferred to this position. The philosopher's proposal was accepted, Kok was transferred, Sir Henry Hobart took his place in the court of general jurisdiction, and Bacon himself received the position of attorney general (attorney-general) (eng. Attorney-general). The fact that the king heeded Bacon's advice and carried it out speaks of their trusting relationship; contemporary John Chamberlain (1553-1628) noted on this occasion: "There is a strong fear that ... Bacon may be a dangerous tool." In 1616, on June 9, Bacon became a member of the Privy Council, not without the help of the young favorite of the king, George Villiers, later Duke of Buckingham.

The period from 1617 to the beginning of 1621 was the most fruitful for Bacon both in career advancement and in scientific work: on March 7, 1617, he became Lord Keeper of the Great Seal of England; on January 4, 1618, he was appointed to the highest post in the state - he became Lord Chancellor; in July of the same year, he was introduced to the circle of peers of England by conferring the title of Baron Verulamsky, and on January 27, 1621, he was elevated to the next level of the peerage, making him Viscount of St. Albans. On October 12, 1620, one of his most famous works was published: "The New Organon", the second, according to the philosopher's plan, part of the unfinished general work - "The Great Restoration of Sciences". This work was the completion of many years of work; 12 variants were written before the final text was published.

Indictment and withdrawal from politics

Needing subsidies, James I initiated the convocation of parliament: in November 1620, its collection was scheduled for January 1621. Having gathered, the deputies expressed dissatisfaction with the growth of monopolies, during the distribution and subsequent activity of which many abuses arose. This dissatisfaction had practical consequences: Parliament brought a number of monopoly entrepreneurs to justice, after which it continued its investigation. A specially appointed commission found abuses and punished some officials of the state chancellery. On March 14, 1621, a certain Christopher Aubrey, in a court of the House of Commons, accused the chancellor himself - Bacon - of taking a bribe from him during the hearing of the Aubrey case, after which the decision was not made in his favor. Bacon's letter, written on the occasion, shows that he understood Aubrey's accusation as part of a pre-arranged plot against him. Almost immediately after this, a second accusation arose (the case of Edward Egerton), which the parliamentarians studied, found just and demanding the punishment of the chancellor, after which they appointed a meeting with the Lords for March 19th. On the appointed day, Bacon could not come due to illness, and sent an apology letter to the Lords with a request to set another date for his defense and a personal meeting with witnesses. The accusations continued to accumulate, but the philosopher still hoped to justify himself, declaring the absence of malicious intent in his actions, however, admitting the violations made by him according to the practice of that time of general bribery. As he wrote to James I: “…I can be morally unstable and share the abuses of time. ... I will not deceive about my innocence, as I have already written to the lords ... but I will tell them in the language that my heart speaks to me, justifying myself, mitigating my guilt and sincerely admitting it ”.

Over time, in the second half of April, Bacon realized that he would not be able to defend himself, and on April 20 sent a general confession of his guilt to the Lords. The Lords considered this insufficient and sent him a list of 28 accusatory positions, demanding a written answer. Bacon responded on April 30, admitting his guilt, and hoping for justice, generosity and mercy of the court.

On May 1st, 1621, a commission of four men appointed by the king visited Bacon at his mansion and seized the Great Seal, to which he remarked: “The Lord gave it to me, and now through my own fault I have lost it” adding the same in Latin: "Deus dedit, mea culpa perdidit".

On May 3rd, 1621, after careful deliberation, the lords issued a sentence: a fine of 40,000 pounds, imprisonment in the Tower for a term determined by the king, deprivation of the right to hold any public office, sit in parliament and visit court. There was also a proposal to subject the philosopher to dishonor - in this case, to deprive him of the titles of baron and viscount, but it did not pass because of two votes against, one of which belonged to the Marquis of Buckingham.

The sentence was executed only to a small extent: on May 31, Bacon was imprisoned in the Tower, but after two or three days the king released him, subsequently also forgiving the fine. This was followed by a general forgiveness (although not annulling the verdict of parliament), and the long-awaited permission to be at court, given, probably, not without the help of the favorite of the king, Buckingham. However, Bacon never again sat in Parliament, and his career as a statesman ended. With his fate, he confirmed the correctness of his own words, said in the essay "On a high position": “It is not easy to stand on a high place, but there is no way back, except for a fall, or at least a sunset ...”.

Last days

Bacon died after he caught a cold during one of the physical experiments - he stuffed the carcass of a chicken with snow, which he bought from a poor woman, to test the effect of cold on the safety of meat supplies. Already seriously ill, in a last letter to one of his friends, Lord Arendel, he triumphantly reports that this experience was a success. The scientist was sure that science should give man power over nature and thereby improve his life.

Religion

Orthodox Anglican, considered himself a student of John Whitgift; wrote a number of religious works: "Confession of Faith", "Sacred Meditations" (1597), "Translation of some Psalms into English" (1625). Also, there are many implied references to the Bible in The New Atlantis, and The Great Restoration of the Sciences is, according to the Anglo-Irish scholar Benjamin Farrington, an allusion to the "Divine promise of human dominion over all creatures." In his "Experiences ..." Bacon, among other things, discusses various issues of religion, criticizes superstition and atheism: “... superficial philosophy inclines a person’s mind to godlessness, while the depths of philosophy turn people’s minds to religion”.

Personal life

In 1603, Robert Cecil introduced Bacon to the widow of London elder Benedict Burnham, Dorothy, who remarried Sir John Packington, mother of the future wife of the philosopher Alice Burnham (1592-1650). The wedding of 45-year-old Francis and 14-year-old Alice took place on May 10, 1606. Francis and Alice had no children.

Philosophy and works

His work is the basis and popularization of the inductive methodology of scientific research, often called the Bacon method. Induction gains knowledge from the outside world through experiment, observation, and hypothesis testing. In the context of their time, such methods were used by alchemists. Bacon outlined his approach to the problems of science, as well as man and society, in the treatise New Organon, published in 1620. In this treatise, he set the goal of science to increase the power of man over nature, which he defined as soulless material, the purpose of which is to be used by man.

Bacon created a two-letter cipher, now called the Bacon cipher.

There is a "Baconian version" unrecognized by the scientific community, attributing to Bacon the authorship of the texts known as Shakespeare.

scientific knowledge

In general, Bacon considered the great dignity of science almost self-evident and expressed this in his famous aphorism “Knowledge is power” (lat. Scientia potentia est).

However, there have been many attacks on science. After analyzing them, Bacon came to the conclusion that God did not forbid the knowledge of nature. On the contrary, he gave man a mind that yearns to know the universe. People only have to understand that there are two kinds of knowledge: 1) knowledge of good and evil, 2) knowledge of things created by God.

The knowledge of good and evil is forbidden to people. God gives it to them through the Bible. And man, on the contrary, must cognize created things with the help of his mind. This means that science should take its rightful place in the "kingdom of man." The purpose of science is to multiply the strength and power of people, to provide them with a rich and dignified life.

Method of knowledge

Pointing to the deplorable state of science, Bacon said that until now, discoveries have been made by chance, not methodically. There would be many more if the researchers were armed with the right method. The method is the way, the main means of research. Even a lame person walking on the road will overtake a healthy person running off-road.

The research method developed by Francis Bacon is an early forerunner of the scientific method. The method was proposed in Bacon's Novum Organum (New Organon) and was intended to replace the methods that had been proposed in Aristotle's Organum (Organon) nearly 2,000 years ago.

According to Bacon, scientific knowledge must be based on induction and experiment.

Induction can be complete (perfect) and incomplete. Full induction means the regular repetition and exhaustibility of some property of the object in the experiment under consideration. Inductive generalizations start from the assumption that this will be the case in all similar cases. In this garden, all lilacs are white - a conclusion from annual observations during its flowering period.

Incomplete induction includes generalizations made on the basis of a study of not all cases, but only some (conclusion by analogy), because, as a rule, the number of all cases is practically unlimited, and theoretically it is impossible to prove their infinite number: all swans are white for us reliably until we see black individual. This conclusion is always probabilistic.

In trying to create a "true induction", Bacon was looking not only for facts confirming a certain conclusion, but also for facts refuting it. He thus armed natural science with two means of investigation: enumeration and exclusion. And it is the exceptions that matter most. With the help of his method, for example, he established that the "form" of heat is the movement of the smallest particles of the body.

So, in his theory of knowledge, Bacon rigorously pursued the idea that true knowledge follows from sensory experience. This philosophical position is called empiricism. Bacon was not only its founder, but also the most consistent empiricist.

Obstacles in the way of knowledge

Francis Bacon divided the sources of human errors that stand in the way of knowledge into four groups, which he called "ghosts" or "idols" (lat. idola). These are “ghosts of the family”, “ghosts of the cave”, “ghosts of the square” and “ghosts of the theater”.

• The "ghosts of the race" stem from human nature itself, they do not depend on culture or on the individuality of a person. “The human mind is likened to an uneven mirror, which, mixing its own nature with the nature of things, reflects things in a distorted and disfigured form.”
• "Ghosts of the cave" are individual errors of perception, both congenital and acquired. “After all, in addition to the mistakes inherent in the human race, everyone has their own special cave, which weakens and distorts the light of nature.”
• "Ghosts of the square (market)" - a consequence of the social nature of man - communication and use of language in communication. “People are united by speech. Words are established according to the understanding of the crowd. Therefore, the bad and absurd establishment of words surprisingly besieges the mind.
• "Phantoms of the theater" are false ideas about the structure of reality that a person assimilates from other people. “At the same time, we mean here not only general philosophical teachings, but also numerous principles and axioms of sciences, which have received strength as a result of tradition, faith and carelessness.”
, Paul Holbach, Denis Diderot - in France. The Slovak philosopher Jan Bayer was also a preacher of F. Bacon's empiricism.

Compositions

• « " (1st edition, 1597),
• « On the dignity and multiplication of sciences"(1605),
• « Experiments, or instructions, moral and political"(2nd edition, - 38 essays, 1612),
• « The Great Restoration of the Sciences, or the New Organon"(1620),
• « Experiments, or instructions, moral and political» (3rd edition, - 58 essays, 1625)
• « New Atlantis» (1627).

More detailed works of the philosopher are presented in the following English articles: Bibliography of Francis Bacon, Works of Francis Bacon.

Image in modern culture

To the cinema

• "Queen Elizabeth" / "Les amours de la reine Élisabeth" (France; 1912) directed by Henri Defontaine and Louis Mercanton, in the role of Lord Bacon - Jean Chamroy.
• "The Virgin Queen" / "The virgin Queen" (UK; 2005) directed by Koki Giedroyts, in the role of Lord Bacon - Neil Styuk.

Introduction

4. Bacon's social utopia

Conclusion

Literature

Introduction

Francis Bacon (1561-1626) is considered to be the founder of modern philosophy. He came from a noble family, which occupied a prominent place in English political life (his father was Lord Privy Seal). Graduated from the University of Cambridge. The process of learning, marked by a scholastic approach of reading and analyzing chiefly the authorities of the past, did not satisfy Bacon.

This training did not give anything new, and in particular, in the knowledge of nature. Already at that time, he came to the conclusion that new knowledge about nature must be obtained by exploring, first of all, nature itself.

He was a diplomat in the British mission in Paris. After the death of his father, he returned to London, became a lawyer, and was a member of the House of Commons. Makes a brilliant career at the court of King James I.

From 1619, F. Bacon became Lord Chancellor of England. After James I was forced to return the Parliament due to non-payment of taxes by the inhabitants of the country, the members of parliament took "revenge", in particular, Bacon was accused of bribery and in 1621 was removed from political activity. Lord Bacon's political career was over, he retires from his former affairs and devotes himself to scientific work until his death.

One group of Bacon's works consists of works related to the formation of science and scientific knowledge.

These are, first of all, treatises, one way or another related to his project of the "Great Restoration of the Sciences" (due to lack of time or for other reasons, this project was not completed).

This project was created by 1620, but only the second part of it, devoted to the new inductive method, was completed and published under the name "New Organon" also in 1620. In 1623, his work "On dignity and multiplication of sciences.

1. F. Bacon - the founder of the experimental science and philosophy of modern times

F. Bacon inventory all areas of consciousness and activity.

The general trend of Bacon's philosophical thinking is unequivocally materialistic. However, Bacon's materialism is limited historically and epistemologically.

The development of modern science (both natural and exact sciences) was only in its infancy and was completely under the influence of the Renaissance concept of man and the human mind. Therefore, Bacon's materialism is devoid of deep structure and is in many ways more of a declaration.

Bacon's philosophy proceeds from the objective needs of society and expresses the interests of the progressive social forces of that time. His emphasis on empirical research, on the knowledge of nature, logically follows from the practice of the then progressive social classes, in particular the emerging bourgeoisie.

Bacon rejects philosophy as contemplation and presents it as a science of the real world based on empirical knowledge. This is confirmed by the title of one of his studies - "Natural and experimental description to the foundation of philosophy".

By his position, he, in fact, expresses a new starting point and a new foundation for all knowledge.

Bacon paid the main attention to the problems of science, knowledge and cognition. In the world of science, he saw the main means of solving social problems and contradictions of the then society.

Bacon is a prophet and enthusiast of technological progress. He raises the question of organizing science and placing it at the service of man. This orientation towards the practical significance of knowledge brings him closer to the philosophers of the Renaissance (in contrast to the scholastics). Science is judged by results. “Fruits are the guarantor and witness of the truth of philosophy.”

Bacon characterizes the meaning, vocation and tasks of science very clearly in the introduction to the "Great Restoration of the Sciences": "And, finally, I would like to call on all people to remember the true goals of science, so that they do not engage in it for the sake of their spirit, not for the sake of some scientific disputes, not for the sake of neglecting the rest, not for the sake of self-interest and fame, not for the sake of gaining power, nor for some other low intentions, but for the sake of life itself having benefit and success from it. This vocation of science is subject to both its orientation and working methods.

He highly appreciates the merits of ancient culture, at the same time he is aware of how much they are superior to the achievements of modern science. As much as he values ​​antiquity, so low does he value scholasticism. He rejects speculative scholastic disputes and focuses on the knowledge of the real, really existing world.

The main instrument of this knowledge are, according to Bacon, feelings, experience, experiment and what follows from them.

According to Bacon, natural science is the great mother of all sciences. She was undeservedly humiliated to the position of a servant. The task is to restore independence and dignity to the sciences. "Philosophy must enter into a legal marriage with science, and only then will it be able to bear children."

A new cognitive situation has emerged. It is characterized by the following: "A pile of experiments has grown to infinity." Bacon sets the task:

a) deep transformation of the array of accumulated knowledge, its rational organization and ordering;

b) development of methods for obtaining new knowledge.

He implements the first one in the work “On the Dignity and Multiplication of the Sciences” - the classification of knowledge. The second is in the New Organon.

The task of ordering knowledge. In the basis of the classification of knowledge, Bacon puts three abilities of discrimination in humans: memory, imagination, reason. These abilities correspond to the field of activity - history, poetry, philosophy with science. The results of abilities correspond to objects (except for poetry, the imagination cannot have an object, and it is its product). The object of history are single events. Natural history has events in nature; civil history has events in society.

Philosophy, according to Bacon, does not deal with individuals and not with sensory impressions of objects, but with abstract concepts derived from them, the combination and separation of which, on the basis of the laws of nature and the facts of reality itself, it deals with. Philosophy belongs to the field of reason and essentially includes the content of all theoretical science.

The objects of philosophy are God, nature and man. Accordingly, it is divided into natural theology, natural philosophy and the doctrine of man.

Philosophy is knowledge of the general. He considers the problem of God as an object of knowledge within the framework of the concept of two truths. Scripture contains moral standards. Theology that studies God is of heavenly origin, in contrast to philosophy, whose object is nature and man. Natural religion may have nature as its object. Within the framework of natural theology (God is the object of attention), philosophy can play a role.

In addition to divine philosophy, there is a natural philosophy (natural). It breaks down into theoretical (exploring the cause of things and relying on "light-bearing" experiments) and practical philosophy (which carries out "fruitful" experiments and creates artificial things).

Theoretical philosophy splits into physics and metaphysics. The basis of this division is the doctrine of 4 reasons by Aristotle. Bacon believes that physics investigates material and moving causes. Metaphysics investigates formal reason. And there is no target cause in nature, only in human activity. The deep essence is formed by forms, their study is a matter of metaphysics.

Practical philosophy is divided into mechanics (research in the field of physics) and natural - magic (it is based on the knowledge of forms). The product of natural magic is, for example, what is depicted in the "New Atlantis" - "reserve" organs for a person, and so on. In modern terms, we are talking about high technologies - High Tech.

The great application to natural philosophy, both theoretical and practical, he considered mathematics.

Strictly speaking, mathematics even forms part of metaphysics, for quantity, which is its subject, applied to matter, is a kind of measure of nature and a condition for a multitude of natural phenomena, and therefore one of its essential forms.

Truly, knowledge of nature is the main all-consuming subject of Bacon's attention, and no matter what philosophical questions he touches, the study of nature, natural philosophy, remained the true science for him.

Bacon also refers to philosophy the doctrine of man. There is also a division of areas: a person as an individual and an object of anthropology, as a citizen - an object of civil philosophy.

Bacon's idea of ​​the soul and its abilities is the central content of his philosophy of man.

Francis Bacon distinguished in man two souls - rational and sensual. The first is divinely inspired (an object of divinely revealed knowledge), the second is similar to the soul of animals (it is an object of natural scientific research): the first comes from the "spirit of God", the second - from a set of material elements and is an organ of a rational soul.

The whole doctrine of the divinely inspired soul - its substance and nature, whether it is innate or introduced from outside - he leaves the competence of religion.

“And although all such questions could receive in philosophy a deeper and more thorough study compared to the state in which they are at the present time, nevertheless, we consider it more correct to refer these questions to the consideration and definition of religion, because otherwise, they would in most cases get an erroneous decision under the influence of those delusions that data of sensory perceptions can give rise to philosophers.

2. Bacon on the nature of human error

Bacon believes that the task of equipping a person with methods for obtaining new knowledge is much more important. He gives a solution to it in the work "New Organon". A significant obstacle in the development of real knowledge are prejudices, accustomed, rooted, or even innate ideas and fictions, which contribute to the fact that the world in our minds is not fully adequately reflected.

Bacon calls these representations idols. The doctrine of idols, according to Bacon, is an important means of overcoming these ideas. Regarding the relation of the science of idols to the new logic and the new method of cognition, he says: "The science of idols is related to the explanation of nature in the same way as the science of sophistical proofs is to ordinary logic."

Bacon presupposes the problem of cleansing the human mind from the following "idols" (false ideas, ghosts):

Idol kind

These are prejudices rooted in the nature of man as a generic being, in the imperfection of the sense organs, in the limitedness of the mind. Sensations deceive us, they have boundaries beyond which objects cease to be perceived by us. To be guided only by sensations is naive. The mind helps, but the mind often gives a distorted picture of nature (likens a crooked mirror). The mind ascribes to nature its properties (anthropomorphism) and purposes (teleology). Hasty generalizations (for example, circular orbits).

The idols of the family are not only natural, but also innate. They proceed from the natural imperfection of the human mind, which manifests itself in the fact that "it implies a greater order and balance in things than those that are in them."

The idol of the clan is the most indestructible according to Bacon. One can hardly free oneself from one's nature and not add one's nature to ideas. The way to overcome the idols of the race lies in the realization of this natural property of the human mind and the consistent implementation of the rules of new induction in the process of cognition (this is the necessary, certainly, the main and most reliable means for overcoming other idols).

Cave Idol

If the idols of the race come from the natural defects of the human mind, which are more or less common, then the idols of the cave are also caused by the innate defects of the human mind, but of an individual nature.

"The idols of the cave are the idols of man as an individual. For each individual, apart from the errors generated by the nature of man as a species, has his own individual cave or lair. This cave refracts and distorts the light of nature, on the one hand, because each has a certain, own nature on the other hand, because each received a different upbringing and met other people.

It was also because everyone read only certain books, revered and adored different authorities, and finally, because his impressions were different from others, according to what kind of souls they had - biased and full of prejudices, or souls calm and balanced, as well as for other reasons of the same kind. Similarly, the human spirit itself (since it is contained in individual people) is very changeable, confusing, as if random. "The human mind is the mind of a being belonging to the human race, but at the same time possessing individual characteristics: body, character, upbringing, interest Each person looks at the world as if from his own cave.“Imperceptibly, passions stain and spoil the mind.” It is easier to get rid of this “idol” than the first one - collective experience levels out individual deviations.

Market Idol

Its danger lies in relying on collective experience. An idol is a product of human communication, mainly verbal. "There are, however, such idols that arise through mutual communication. We call them idols of the market because they arose by mutual agreement in society. People agree with the help of speech; words are determined by a common understanding. Bad and incorrect choice of words greatly interferes with the mind These hindrances cannot correct either definitions or explanations.

Words simply rape the mind and confuse everyone, and lead people to countless unnecessary arguments and ideas. People believe that their mind commands words. But they involuntarily enter the mind."

Harmfully misused. Mistaking words for things, people are mistaken. Here his criticism is directed against the scholastics. One can overcome an idol by realizing that words are signs of things. Realizing that there are single things - that is, you need to take the position of nominalism. Words do not represent reality, but only the generalizing activity of the mind.

Bacon pays more attention, but does not find (apart from the consistent implementation of the rules of new induction) an effective way to overcome them. Therefore, he defines the idols of the market as the most harmful.

theater idol

The product of a collective experience. If a person has blind faith in authorities, especially in the ancient ones. The older, the greater the illusion of authority causes. Like actors on a stage in the limelight, the ancient thinkers are in the halo of their glory. This is the result of "aberration of vision". And they are the same people as the readers. It must be understood that the older, the more naive the thinker, because he knew less.

“These are idols that have migrated into human thoughts from various philosophical teachings. I call them the idols of the theater, because all the traditional and still invented philosophical systems are, in my opinion, as if theatrical games that created worlds, fictional as if in a theater. I am not talking here about current philosophies and schools, nor about those old ones, because such games can be added up and many more can be played together. Therefore, the true causes of errors, which are completely different from each other, are more or less almost the same.

3. The doctrine of the method of empiricism and the basic rules of the inductive method

Bacon's work is characterized by a certain approach to the method of human cognition and thinking. The starting point of any cognitive activity is for him, first of all, feelings.

Therefore, he is often referred to as the founder" empiricism"- a direction that builds its epistemological premises mainly on sensory knowledge and experience. Bacon himself says about this:" I do not overestimate too direct and proper sensory perception, but I act in such a way that only experiment evaluates feelings, and experiment itself speaks about things , because the subtlety of experience far exceeds the subtlety of the feelings themselves, perhaps armed with exceptional instruments.

Therefore, it would be more accurate to define Bacon's philosophy (and not just the theory of knowledge) as empirical. Empiricism - experience based on experiment (and not isolated sensory perception) - is for him the starting point of a new scientific method, which he characterizes as "the science of a better and more perfect use of reason in the study of things and of the true benefits of reason that knows them. in order for the knowing mind to rise (as far as the existing conditions and its mortality allow a person) and for it to have the ability to overcome what in nature is hard to reach and dark.

The main merit of Francis Bacon is the development of methodology, that is, the doctrine of the method. He developed a new method in opposition to scholasticism, which he rejects because of its sterility: the syllogistic statement does not add anything new to what has already been expressed in the premises. So you won't get new knowledge. And the premises themselves are the result of hasty generalizations, although not all of them.

Bacon's method is an empirical-inductive method of obtaining true generalizations from experience.

According to Bacon, the object of knowledge is nature; the task of cognition is to obtain true knowledge; the goal of knowledge is domination over nature; method is a means of solving cognitive problems. The starting point of the method is experience. But he must not be blind. You do not need a pile of experience and knowledge. The other extreme is the “web of the scholastic,” which he weaves out of himself. Experience must be complemented by rational organization. The explorer should be like a bee collecting nectar and processing it into honey. That is, rationally comprehend and process experimental knowledge.

Bacon considers induction to be the main working method of his logic. In this he sees a guarantee against shortcomings not only in logic, but in all knowledge in general.

He characterizes it as follows: "Under induction I understand the form of proof, which looks closely at feelings, strives to comprehend the natural character of things, strives for deeds and almost merges with them." Induction is the true method of rational thinking - from the particular to the general, continuous, thorough generalization without leaps.

He rejects the induction which, he says, is carried out by mere enumeration. Such an induction "leads to an indefinite conclusion, it is subject to the dangers that threaten it from the opposite cases, if it pays attention only to what it is accustomed to, and does not come to any conclusion."

Therefore, he emphasizes the need for a revision or, more precisely, the development of an inductive method: "The sciences, however, need such forms of induction that will analyze experience and distinguish individual elements from each other and only then, when responsibly excluded and rejected, will come to a convincing conclusion" .

Under Bacon, the concept of induction was reduced to complete and incomplete (that is, incomplete coverage of experimental data). Bacon does not accept the extension of induction through enumeration, since only that which confirms the fact is taken into account. The new thing that Bacon introduced is that it is necessary to take into account "negative instances" (according to Bacon), that is, facts that refute our generalizations, falsify our inductive generalizations. Only then does true induction take place.

We must look for cases that reveal the generalization as hasty. What should be done for this? We must treat experimental knowledge not as the result of passive knowledge, but we must actively intervene in the process being studied, create artificial conditions that will determine what circumstances are responsible for the result. In other words, an experiment is needed, not just an observation. "If nature locks itself up and does not reveal its secrets, it must be tortured."

Secondly, the condition of true induction is analysis. That is, the "anatomization" of nature in order to reveal its laws. We have already encountered the analytic orientation in Galileo. But Bacon does not go as far as Galileo. Galileo brought the analysis to a reduction to just 4 mechanical properties. And Bacon reduces not to quantitative, but to qualitative knowledge. According to Bacon, the combination of simple forms is the deep essence of natural things. The one who comprehended it possesses natural magic. He correlates knowledge of simple forms with knowledge of the alphabet. His qualitative reductionism has Aristotelian roots, but falls short of Galileo's mechanistic reductionism. The position of qualitative reduction brings him closer to natural philosophers. But in the field of method, Bacon is the ancestor of modern philosophy.

Baconian analysis is only the initial stage of induction. Based on the analysis, it is necessary to make generalizations leading to the knowledge of the causes. The results should be organized in tables:

1. Table of positive instances. Bacon called it the table of essence and presence (presence). It "should present to the mind a survey of all known cases which, in this natural property, agree, although their substances are not similar. Such a survey must be made historically, without undue speculation or detail." The table gives a relatively complete overview of the main manifestations of the studied properties.

2. The table of negative instances, which Bacon defines as the table of deviations and non-presences. The table is constructed in such a way that for every positive case defined, there is a corresponding (at least one) negative case.

It contains "an overview of cases in which a given natural property is not present because form cannot be where there is no natural property."

3. Table comparing the degrees of manifestation. Its task is "to give the mind an overview of the cases in which the natural property under investigation is contained to a greater or lesser extent, depending on whether it decreases or increases, and to carry out this comparison on various "objects." The methodological value of this table is to the greatest extent depends on the level of sensory knowledge and experimental methods, so it contains the largest number of inaccuracies.

Comparison of the data in these three tables, according to Bacon, can lead to certain knowledge, in particular, descriptive cases can confirm or refute hypotheses regarding the property under study.

These cases are included in the table of prerogative instances, which form the basis for the actual induction.

4. Table of prerogative instances - a table of privileged cases. Here lies the possibility of testing the hypothesis for truth.

Bacon illustrated his method by studying the properties of heat. This illustration also shows the shortcomings of his method.

The shortcomings of Bacon's methodological approaches were due to his general philosophical orientation. The construction of his "tables" implies an understanding of the world as material, but essentially consisting of a finite number of basic parts, qualitatively and quantitatively limited. And although, for example, in understanding the relationship between matter and motion, Bacon approaches the unraveling of their real inner connection, his materialism represents only a certain stage preceding the formation of the mechanical-materialist philosophy and natural science of modern times.

Thus, we can confidently call Francis Bacon one of the founders of modern experimental science.

But even more important, perhaps, is the fact that the pioneer of natural scientific methodology did not treat his teaching as the ultimate truth. He directly and frankly put him face to face with the future. “We do not claim, however, that nothing can be added to this,” Bacon wrote. On the contrary, considering the mind not only in its own ability, but also in its connection with things, we must establish that the art of discovery can grow along with discoveries "

4. Bacon's social utopia

In 1627, The New Atlantis was published - in this work the most important feature of his philosophical position is manifested. "New Atlantis" is a social utopia in which Bacon expresses his ideas about the optimal structure of society.

The genre of the book is reminiscent of "Utopia" by T. More. But if More and Campanella pay attention to the question of what will happen if there is no private property, then Bacon is not interested in this question at all. His ideal society on the legendary island of Bensalem is, in fact, an idealization of the then English society.

There is a division into rich and poor in it, a significant role in the life of people on the island is played by the Christian religion. And although Bacon in his utopia condemns certain negative phenomena typical of England at that time, he does not touch on the essence of social relations, and in most cases condemns the violation of moral norms recognized by society. So, in Bensalem, for example, frivolous life is condemned, theft and any offenses leading to violation of the law are strictly prosecuted, there is no bribery of officials, etc.

The central point of the book is the description of the House of Solomon. This is a kind of museum of science and technology. There, the islanders study nature in order to put it at the service of man. Bacon's technical fantasy turned out to be quite non-trivial - artificial snow, artificially induced rain, lightning. It demonstrates the synthesis of living beings, the cultivation of human organs. Future microscope and other technical devices.

Bacon had enough political and legal experience to come to the conclusion that science and power must agree. Therefore, in the "New Atlantis" the "house of Solomon" as the center of the development of science has such an exceptional position.

The advice and instructions he issues are obligatory for the citizens of this utopian state (from the point of view of social coercion) and are taken seriously and with respect.

In connection with the high appreciation of science in the utopian Bensalem, Bacon shows how the science developed by the "house of Solomon" differs (both in its content and in terms of methods) from the European science of his time. Thus, this utopia affirms Bacon's view of science as the most important form of human activity.

The criticality of his social utopia is not directed against the prevailing social relations, but is aimed at their "improvement", cleansing from the negative phenomena that accompanied (naturally and with necessity) the development of capitalist production relations.

The significance of Bacon's philosophy is not determined by his social views, which, despite the relative progressiveness, do not transcend the boundaries of the era; it consists primarily in the criticism of the speculative contemplative approach to the world, characteristic of late medieval philosophy.

By this, Bacon significantly contributed to the formation of the philosophical thinking of the New Age.

Conclusion

At least three ideological factors determined the formation and character of the new European philosophy - the revival of ancient values, the religious reformation and the development of natural science.

And the impact of all of them is clearly seen in the views of Bacon - the last major philosopher of the Renaissance and the founder of the philosophy of modern times. His philosophy was a continuation of the naturalism of the Renaissance, which he also freed from pantheism, mysticism and various superstitions. Continuation and at the same time its completion.

Having proclaimed the great importance of natural science and technical inventions for human power in practice, Bacon believed that this idea of ​​his philosophy was destined not just for a long life of an academically recognized and canonized literary heritage, another opinion among the many already invented by mankind.

He believed that over time this idea would become one of the constructive principles of all human life, to which "the fate of the human race will give completion, moreover, such that, perhaps, people, in the current state of things and minds, are not easy to comprehend and measure." In a sense, he was right.

Bacon's activity as a thinker and writer was aimed at promoting science, at indicating its paramount importance in the life of mankind, at developing a new holistic view of its structure, classification, goals and methods of research. He was engaged in science as its Lord Chancellor, developing its general strategy, determining the general routes for its advancement and the principles of organization in a poor society.

Reflecting today on the legacy of Francis Bacon, we find in it the most diverse elements and layers - innovative and traditionalist, scientific and poetic, wise and naive, those whose roots go back centuries, and those that stretch their evergreen shoots in time to other worlds. social structures, problems and mindsets.

Literature

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Bacon F. New Organon / / Op. In 2 volumes - M .: Thought, 1972. Vol. 2.

History of Philosophy: West-Russia-East. Book 2. - M.: Greco-Latin cabinet Yu.A. Shichalina, 1996.

The world of philosophy. - M.: Politizdat, 1991.

Sokolov V.V. European philosophy of the XV-XVII centuries. - M.: Higher school, 1996.

Reale J., Antiseri D. Western philosophy from its origins to the present day. T.3. New time. - St. Petersburg: LLP TK "Petropolis", 1996.