Philosophy of the Enlightenment. The Ideas of Francis Bacon and their comparison to those of René Descartes.
Francis Bacon is considered to be the major prophet of the Scientific Revolution. At the age of twelve Bacon went to study at He went to Trinity College, Cambridge at the age of twelve, got a lawyer education later on. He proceeded to a political career hoping to advance his ideas. He was a member of the House of Commons and knighted during the reign of King James I, although during that of Queen Elizabeth he was neglected by her. Bacon was a famous speaker in Parliament as well. He battled scholasticism, dependence on authorities of its old order. His works stayed influential even after his death during the whole scientific revolution, due to his contribution to the development of the scientific method. His greatest philosophical work, the Novum Organum, describes the inductive method of reasoning in order to interpret nature. This approach and its connection to the ideas of Descartes, another philosopher of the Enlightenment, is going to be discussed in the essay.
During the Renaissance, philosophers turned their attention from scholastic problems and controversies on science, observation, art, invention, and politics. They were gradually freed from the influence of religion, proclaiming the freedom of thought as one of the greatest values. Anthropocentrism was replaced by Theocentrism.
The man and his problems were put in the spotlight. Anthropocentrism proclaims human center of the universe (which everything revolves, not around the main God and man). On this basis, it revived the ancient tradition of humanism. Humanism was originally set against any form of servitude.
The philosophy of the Enlightenment perceived the main ideas of the Renaissance and developed them. It was anti-scholastically oriented and of largely non-religious character.
In the seventeenth century, there were two philosophical currents which for the first time explain two main points of view on the sources and criteria of knowledge quite clearly - empirical and rationalistic. These are the teachings of Francis Bacon and René Descartes. The problem of knowledge gets a completely new setting in those. Francis Bacon not only repeats Aristotle but even somehow opposites it and develops a quite original theory of knowledge, whose center of gravity lies in the new idea of an experiment as an instrument of experimental science. Similarly, Descartes does not repeat Plato, but sees in the human spirit, in its organization the data for the discovery of the basic and essential truths, similar to mathematical ones.
Nevertheless, it is undeniable that the spiritual father of Rene Descartes is Plato and that of the philosophy of Francis Bacon is Aristotle. Despite all differences between mentioned philosophers, one cannot deny their relationship. There are generally two kinds of thinking, one of which is directed outward to the external world, and from that point it comes to the explanation of the inner nature of things, while the other one is directed inward, to human consciousness and is seeking support and criteria for the interpretation of the nature of the world in it.
In the 1967 edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica it gives two versions of the term of induction are provided: “the operation of discovering and proving general propositions” or “that operation of the mind by which we infer that what we know to be true in a particular case or cases will be true in all cases that resemble the former in certain assignable respects.” There’s also a paraphrase of Francis Bacon (from the E. Brit. as well), that describes induction as “a selective process of elimination among a number of alternative possibilities” (Rothchild).
The inductive approach doesn’t have a theory at the beginning of the research because the research may result in the evolution of theory. It is based on getting knowledge from experience. Resemblances, patterns, and regularities serve for the achievement of conclusions and generation of theory.
Sensible experience is the starting point of Francis Bacon’s inductive method starts with sensible experience. The data drawn from the things as they appear is then explained by low-level axioms expressed by the tables of induction. There are three kinds of them: the first one is the table of essence and presence, that enumerates all situations nature is under consideration.
The second one named the table of deviation or absence of degrees, lists all situations which are the most similar to the first one, but nature, in this case, is not under consideration. The third table, the table of counter-instances, ‘suggests experiments in order to search possible counter-examples (Ducheyne)’. In this way, "knowledge of the forms" is obtained. ‘His method proceeds along a strict hierarchy of increasing generality. From the fundamental laws, it is possible to derive further deductions and new experiments. This is the only way to guarantee that the discovered causes are the true “forms” in nature: we show that no other cause can explain the nature under investigation – here too we use tables of presence and absence. (Ducheyne)’.
For instance, when someone wants to find the form of heat, he collects various cases of heat in the first table in trying to filter out anything that does not have something common, meaning things that are present when heat is present. In the second table, he brings together cases that are similar to the cases in the first, but which do not have heat. For example, in the first table the sun's rays which create a warm can be listed, the second one includes such things as the rays coming from the moon or stars which do not generate heat. On this basis, you can filter out all those things that are present when the heat is present.
Bacon’s inductive method considers it necessary to create the correct method by which one could gradually ascend from the individual facts to broad generalizations. In ancient times, all the discoveries were made spontaneously, whereas the correct method should be based on experiments (specifically designed experiments) that must be systematized in the "natural history."
In general, induction of Bacon appears not only as a kind of logical inference but also as the logic of scientific discovery, the methodology of the development of concepts based on experience. Although the problem of induction was previously discussed by preceding philosophers, only Bacon gives it utmost importance.
Aristotelian logic was a method that allowed building a logical proof. Using this logic, one could convince the other, but with its help, it is impossible to find the truth in nature. Bacon defended the inductive method as a logical tool in the search for new truths. He named his treatise on logic "New Organon" opposing "Organon" by Aristotle.
However, Bacon was aware that his method of induction has limits of applicability. Keeping in mind an ending nature of a person it may contact only with some parts of the phenomena of nature, therefore, induction is incomplete as a method.
Descartes did not deny the empirical method of Francis Bacon but offered a rationalistic method that is presented in his writings in the form of a set of rules. These rules have incorporated analytical method and deduction. It is necessary to use only the mind and there is no need to resort to empirical data.
In his Novum Organum Bacon recognizes 4 Idols. He states: “There are four classes of Idols which beset men's minds. To these for distinction's sake I have assigned names, calling the first class Idols of the Tribe; the second, Idols of the Cave; the third, Idols of the Market Place; the fourth, Idols of the Theater (Bacon)”.
Bacon sees Idols as an image getting worship but being not substantial itself. Idols of the Tribe stand for false beliefs in the human mind which are inherent to the whole human race. Idols of the Cave are the beliefs created in the mind of the individual. The Cave serves as a symbol of human’s mind. Idols of the Marketplace are errors that originate from the false importance given to the words. Idols of the Theater are connected to false learning and sophistry and based on philosophy, theology, and science.
Thus, to Bacon, the solution to the question of true knowledge was the knowledge of causes. In his opinion, physics are determined as the science of variable causes and metaphysics as the science of fixed ones. Such approach proves the Platonic origin of his ideas.
Descartes believed that the only true way of finding truth is the use of mathematical apparatus. As in mathematics, he first sought an intuitive truth, which is obvious to everyone, and then, basing on it, tried to find a new reliable truth with a help of deduction.
The rejection of the logical speculations and blind belief in dogma, in favor of the focus on finding the truth through the reliable management of intelligence, are the positive features of the methodologies of Bacon and Descartes.
As the further course of development of science and methodology of scientific knowledge showed, the philosophical concepts of Bacon and Descartes were not mutually exclusive, but complementary in matters relating to the definition and use of scientific knowledge sources.
Methodological programs offered by Bacon and Descartes had some similarities, which include criticism of scholastic philosophy and an introduction to the practice of philosophizing concepts of the constructive doubt.
Thus, Bacon and Descartes built the foundations of a new methodology of scientific knowledge and gave the methodology a deep philosophical justification.
Works Cited
Rothchild, I., Induction, deduction, and the scientific method
an eclectic overview of the practice of science. The Society for the Study of Reproduction, Inc., 2006. Print.
Ducheyne, S., Bacon’s idea and Newton’s practice
of induction. 2005. Lisbon: Departamento de Filosofia da Universidade de Lisboa & Centro de Filosofia da Universidade de Lisboa. Print.
Bacon, F. The New Organon. 1620. Print.
