FRANCIS BACON
Francis Bacon was born on 22 January 1561 at York house near the Strand in London, the son of Sir Nicholas Bacon (Lord Keeper of the Great Seal) by his second wife, Anne Cooke Bacon, the daughter of the noted Renaissance humanist Antony Cooke. He was also known as Lord Verulam, was an English philosopher and statesman who served as Attorney General and as Lord Chancellor of England. His works are credited with developing the scientific method and remained influential the scientific revolution. His notable work is 'Novum Organum'. He belongs to the era of Renaissance philosophy and 17th century philosophy. His main interest were in Natural philosophy and Philosophical logic.
Bacon has been called the father of empiricism. His works argued for the possibility of scientific knowledge based only upon inductive reasoning and careful observation of events in nature.
Francis Bacon was a patron of libraries and developed a functional system for the cataloguing of books by dividing them into three categories - history, poetry and philosophy - which could further be divided into more specific subjects and sub headings.
Bacon was the first recipient of the Queen's counsel designation, which was conferred in 1597 when Elizabeth I of England reserved Bacon as her legal advisor. After the occasion of James VI and I in 1603, Bacon was knighted. He was later created Baron Verulam in 1618 and Viscount St.Alban in 1621.
Biographers believe that Bacon was educated at home in his early years owning to poor health, which would plague him throughout his life. He went up to Trinity College at the university of Cambridge on 5 April 1573 at the age of 12, living for three years there. Bacon's education was conducted largely in Latin and followed the medieval curriculum. It was at Cambridge that Bacon first met queen Elizabeth, who was impressed by his precocious intellect, and was accustomed to calling him "The young lord keeper".
Bacon stated that he had three goals: to uncover the truth, to serve his country, and to serve his church.
There seems little doubt that Bacon had accepted gifts from litigants, but this was an accepted custom of the time and not necessarily evidence of deeply corrupt behaviour. While acknowledging that his conduct had been lax, he countered that he had never allowed gifts to influence his judgement and, indeed, he had on one occasion given a verdict against those who had paid him. He even had an interview with King James in which he assured,
"The law of nature teaches me to speak in my own defence: with respect to this charge of bribery I am as innocent as any man born on St.Innocents Day. I never had a bribe or reward in my eye or thought when pronouncing judgement or order. . . . I am ready to make an obligation of myself to the king." - 17 April 1621
On 9 April 1626, Francis Bacon died of pneumonia while at Arundel mansion at Highgate outside London.
👉Philosophy and works
Francis Bacon's philosophy is displayed in the vast and varied writings he left, which might be divided into three great branches:
• Scientific works- In this his ideas for a universal reform of knowledge into scientific methodology and the improvement of mankind's state using the scientific method are presented.
• Religious and literary works- In this he represents his moral philosophy and theological meditations.
• Juridical works- In this his reforms in English law are proposed.
👉Science
Bacon's seminal work 'Novum Organum' was influential in the 1630s and 1650s among scholars, in particular Sir Thomas Browne, who in his encyclopedia Psuedodoxia Epidemica (1646-72) frequently adheres to a Baconian approach to his scientific enquiries. This book entails the basis of the Scientific Method as a means of observation and induction.
Thomas Jefferson, the third President of the United States, wrote: "Bacon, Locke and Newton. I consider them as the three greatest men that have ever lived, without any exception, and as having laid the foundation of those superstructures which have been raised in the Physical and Moral sciences."
Francis Bacon developed the idea that a classification of knowledge must be universal while handling all possible resources.
Major works of Bacon
1. The Advancement and Proficience of Learning Divine and Human (1605)
2. New Atlantic
3. Instauratio Magna (The Great Instauration) (1620):
- Plan of the work
- Novum Organum(New Engine)
- Preparatory for National History
- Catalogue of Particular Histories
745 words.