Sir Francis Bacon (1561-1626)
and the renewal of Philosophy
Important Baconian ideas:
Reliance on the evidence of the senses and instruments (e.g. telescope, microscope);
Progress through technology;
Technological transformation of nature to make it useful to humanity: 'relief of man's estate' (AL);
State Institutions of science: institutes, centralization, technocratic expertise (N.B. no democratization of knowledge!)
Bacon's Life
Son of an important official in the government of Elizabeth I and a very well-educated mother
Studied law, became a barrister and entered House of Commons, legal advisor to Elizabeth I (reigned until 1603)
Attorney General and Lord Chancellor under James I (starting 1613); forced out of office in 1621
Bacon retired to his estate to write and study
Tried to convince Elizabeth I and James I to embrace natural philosophy as statecraft: advancement of learning advances the state
Bacon's Major Works
1594 Essays
1605 Advancement of Learning: blueprint for how to improve learning in the realm (natural philosophy = statecraft)
1620 Great Instauration (or Renewal) and
Novum Organon (cf. Organon of Aristotle)
New Atlantis (posthumous): blueprint for state scientific institutions and their goals
Lead-up to Bacon
Recall our thesis that the emergence of early-modern science and philosophy
was a long process beginning with
the revival of ancient learning in the Renaissance and
the development of practical skills from the Middle Ages onwards: navigation, architecture, optics, hydraulics, herbal medicine, alchemy (evolves into chemistry).
Philosophy before Bacon:
Scholastic philosophy—logic, deduction, syllogism, medieval version of Aristotle's physics and cosmology, overturned by Galileo and others
The Ship of the New Learning:
"Many shall pass to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased."

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