Francis Bacon

Russell deems Bacon’s philosophy as “unsatisfactory”, but admits his importance in that he was in fact the founder of the modern inductive method. In his The advancement of learning, Bacon places a huge amount of emphasis on the notion that knowledge is power. He remained practical and believed that man should show mastery over the forces of nature through experiments and scientific technique.

Interested in keeping philosophy separate from theology, Bacon agrees that reason could perhaps convey the existence of God, but is drawn strongly to the idea that knowledge of God comes through a personal revelation of some sort. He highlighted the importance of inductive over deductive reasoning, and was convinced that he would advance the theory dramatically.

He classified the intellectual fallacies of his time under four titles:

“The idols of the tribe” are the deceptive beliefs inherent in the mind of man.

”The idols of the cave” arise in the mind of the individual; they are somewhat linked to prejudices.  “Idols of market” arise from the false significance placed upon words.

“Idols of theatre” point towards false learning and sophistry.

Bacon rejected the Copernican theory, which Russell seems willing to forgive, but his lack of acceptance of Kepler’s adjusted version of the theory leaves Russell somewhat disappointed in Bacon. He goes as far as to say that Bacon’s inductive method is faulty as it places insufficient emphasis on hypothesis. Still, there’s a certain poetic element about Bacon’s death as he died of fatal pneumonia which he caught whilst stuffing a chicken full of snow, thinking that it would perhaps preserve it.