Life Story

Francis Bacon ,one of the greatest of modern philosophers, was born in London, January 22nd, 1561. His father was Sir Nicholas Bacon, and his mother the learned Anne Cooke. In early childhood he manifested superior powers, and an ardent love of knowledge. His intelligence was so precocious that Queen Elizabeth took pleasure in calling him her "young Lord Keeper." At the age of 13 he was sent to the university of Cambridge, which he quitted after a residence of three years, with a low opinion of the course of study. On leaving the university he went to Paris in the suite of Sir Amias Paulet, the English Ambassador, and as the result of his studies he wrote, at the age of 19. The death of his father in 1580, recalled him to England, where he took himself to the study of law, and before he was 28, was made Counsel Extraordinary to the Queen. A few years afterwards he entered parliament as member from Middlesex. It was not however, till the reign of James I that he made rapid progress. He was knighted in 1603, and in the following year was appointed salaried counsel to the crown, and by 1613, he had advanced to the office of Attorney-general. In 1617; he was appointed keeper of the Great Seal, and in 1619, attained the dignity of the Lord Chancellorship, with the title of Lord Verulam. In the year following he was created Viscount St. Albans. In the eary spring of 1626 he died of a cold caught while he was making a experiment in a snowstorm.

Major Works

Generally speaking,Bacon’s works cover two fields,the philosophical and the literary.

His chief contribution to philosophy lies in his revolution of materialism in philosophy and science in England.When he was a freshman at Cambridge University,Bacon had planned to write a comprehensive philosophical work entitled The Great Institution of True Philosophy,which according to his earliest ambitious scheme,would consist of six parts,though he had only completed the first two parts: “The Advancement of Learning(1605, with an extended Latin version in 1623) and “The New Instrument(1620)”.Bacon’s philosophy of materialism was based upon his inductive method reasoning from an assumed law to particular facts.

Bacon’s literary power and success find fine expression chiefly in his Essays,which was published first in 1597,consisting of ten essays.In 1626 appeared a second edition containing38 essays,and then in 1625,the year before his death, issued in its present form,polishing and enlarging the original ten to fifty-eight,covering a wide variety of subjects in relation to the social life of his age.Bacon’s essays are characterized by their conciseness and brevity ,simplicity and forcefulness,practicality and versatility.His essays have been considered as a reformation of popular euphuism of his contemporaries.Usually each essay discusses a single subject,for instance,Of Beauty,Of Marriage,Of Riches,Of Studies.Short as they are,these essays show Bacon’s profundity in understanding man and society.

Other works include The New Atlanticskind(1627) of scientific novel describing another Utopia,and The History of Henry Ⅶ,a historical work.

Of Studies, which is from Essay, discusses the significance and ways of studies.The text writes that studies serve for delight,for ornmament,and for ability.Their chief use for delight is in privateness and retiring; for ornament,is in discourse;and for ability,is in the judgment and disposition of business;for expert men can excute,and perhaps judge of particulars,one by one;but the general counsels,and the plots and marshaling of affairs come best from those that are learned.

Brief Comments

Bacon’s contribution to philosophy was his application of the inductive method of modern science. When analyzing Bacon’s philosophy,Marx pointed out, “to him natural philosophy is the true philosophy,and physics based upon the experience of the sense is the chiefest part of natural philosophy…According to him the senses are infallible and the source of all knowledge.All science is based in experience,and consists in subjecting the data furnished by the senses to a rational method of investigation. Induction, analysis, comparison, observation, experiment, are the pricipal forms of such a ration method”.He urged full investigation in all cases, avoiding theories based on insufficient data. He has been widely censured for being too mechanical, failing to carry his investigations to their logical ends, and not staying abreast of the scientific knowledge of his own day. In the 19th cent., Macaulay initiated a movement to restore Bacon’s prestige as a scientist.

Bacon remains widely read. He emphasised the use of the inductive method of reasoning and progression beyond an Aristotlean approach. He believed that man could become the master of all knowledge, from consideration of the natural world, using experimental basis. The use of organised observation. His later works were designed to form a work of all knowledge. For this he wrote in Latin assuming it to be longer lived.