Assignment on
Francis Bacon: A Man of Practical Wisdom Course code: ELI-106
Course title: Introduction to NonFictional Prose Submitted to:
Kaniz Ummey Rumana, Lecturer,
Department of English,
LEADING UNIVERSITY, SYLHET. Submitted by:
Zahid Hussain Md- Jakir Masum ID no: 0801030009 Third semester, First year,
Department of English,
LEADING UNIVERSITY, SYLHET. Date of submission: 21 December 2008 AD
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Acknowledgement I would like to express my heartiest gratitude to my honourable course coordinator of ELA-106 (Non-Fictional Prose) Ms. Kaniz Ummey Rumana, Lecturer of Department of English, Leading University, Sylhet for allowing me to work under his supervision; and for his valuable implication, guidance and encouragement. -
Zahid Hussain Masum,
Md-
Jakir
ID no: 080103009, Third semester, First year, Department of English,
Leading University, Sylhet.
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Francis Bacon: A Man of Practical Wisdom Sir Francis Bacon was an English essayist, lawyer, historian, statesman, intellectual reformer, philosopher, and champion of modern science. Early in his career he claimed “all knowledge as his province” and afterwards dedicated himself to a wholesale revaluation and re-structuring of traditional learning. To take the place of the established tradition (a miscellany of Scholasticism, humanism, and natural magic), he proposed an entirely new system based on empirical and inductive principles and the active development of new arts and inventions, a system whose ultimate goal would be the production of practical knowledge for “the use and benefit of men” and the relief of the human condition. He was born in London in 1561 to a prominent and wellconnected family. His parents were Sir Nicholas Bacon, the Lord Keeper of the Seal, and Lady Anne Cooke, daughter of Sir Anthony Cooke, a knight and one-time tutor to the royal family. Lady Anne was a learned woman in her own right, having acquired Greek and Latin as well as Italian and French. She was a sister-in-law both to Sir Thomas Hoby, the esteemed English translator of Castiglione, and to Sir William Cecil, Lord Treasurer, chief counsellor to Elizabeth-I. He was educated at home at the family estate at Gorhambury in Herfordshire. At the age of just twelve in 1573, he entered Trinity College, Cambridge, where the stodgy Scholastic curriculum triggered his lifelong opposition to Aristotelianism. In 1576 Bacon began reading law at Gray’s Inn. Yet only a year later he interrupted his studies in order to take a position in the diplomatic service in France as an assistant to the ambassador. In 1579, while he was still in France, his father died, leaving him virtually without support. Bacon completed his law degree in 1582, and in 1588 he was named lecturer in legal studies at Gray’s Inn. In the meantime, he was elected to Parliament in 1584 as a member for Melcombe in Dorsetshire. He would remain in Parliament as a representative for various constituencies for the next 36 years. In 1603, James-I succeeded Elizabeth, and Bacon’s prospects for advancement dramatically improved. After being knighted by the king, he swiftly ascended the ladder of state and from 1604 -1618 filled a succession of high-profile advisory positions. In 1621 he was arrested and charged with bribery. After 3
pleading guilty, he was heavily fined and sentenced to a prison term in the Tower of London. Although the fine was later waived and Bacon spent only four days in the Tower, he was never allowed to sit in Parliament or hold political office again. Bacon spent his remaining years working with renewed determination on his lifelong project: the reform of learning and the establishment of an intellectual community dedicated to the discovery of scientific knowledge for the “use and benefit of men.” The former Lord Chancellor died on 9 April 1626, supposedly of a cold or pneumonia contracted while testing his theory of the preservative and insulating properties of snow. Bacon’s style, though elegant, is by no means as simple as it seems or as it is often described. In fact it is actually a fairly complex affair that achieves its air of ease and clarity more through its balanced cadences, natural metaphors, and carefully arranged symmetries than through the use of plain words, commonplace ideas, and straightforward syntax. In this connection it is noteworthy that in the revised versions of the essays Bacon seems to have deliberately disrupted many of his earlier balanced effects to produce a style that is actually more jagged and, in effect, more challenging to the casual reader. Bacon was a man of full and varied activity. He have devote to the intellectual activity inaugurated by the advancement of learning and brought a full maturity in the Novum Organum. In the advancement of learning he had surveyed the full field of learning and noted all defects and deficiencies. These were rectifying in the Instauratio Magna of learning. Most of his scientific and philosophic works were contributions or drafts towards this. The method was outlined in the Novum Organum. Besides, his monumental philosophic and scientific works, his specifically literary productions seem few. The New Atlantis is practically related worth his philosophic and social ideals in the form of Utopian romance. In the Promos we find both for and against argument in a given measure. For example- “High birth is the wreath with men are crowned by time’ and ‘Nobility withdraws virtue from envy, and commends it to favour,” etc. As well as against “Nobility has seldom sprung from virtue; virtue still more rarely from nobility.’ ‘In running their race, men of birth look back tooo often, which is the mark of a bad runner.” etc. His earliest essays- especially when read in the original, unrevised versions- seem little more than collections of maximum like sentences: sometimes actual quotations, more often memorable epigrammatic expressions of traditional or universal sentiments. 4
Bacon’s essays have often suffered by a misguided comparison with Montaigne’s or Lamb’s. Both Montaigne and Bacon start with the commonplace book- other men’s word, but culled with one’s own taste and nourishing one’s own observations. Montaigne proceeds to develop this personal element. To Bacon this would have appeared a lamentable surrender what he called the ‘idols of the cave.’ He extracts from his commonplace-book its content of impersonal wisdom, and builds upon that. While Lambian essays have far less immediate appeal; but perhaps a more broad-based and lasting validity. Bacon’s essays have often been described as a visionary of science rather than an actual scientist. Bacon’s achievement fell short of his own dream, even if his successors far exceeded it; what unifies and sustains his work imaginative fervour of his version, not the range or precision o fits scientific content. Many of the bacon’s essays raise issues fundamental to the era. For example, of revenge explores the notion of revenge, which frequently featured in the period and is dominant in Elizabethan and Jacobean drama. ‘Revenge is a kind of wild justice,’ he begins. The Old Testament had apparently sanctioned revenge but, as Bacon shows, if justice is to be redefined, the wildness of revenge becomes dangerous. In dedicating the advancement of learning to king James 1 in 1665, he had said the flattery on with a trawling in comparing the king to ancient heremes, the possessor of triplicity of command. His aim in 1605 seems to encourage James to support some solid work; fixed memorial and immortal monument. The advancement of learning attempted to draw a distinction between two kinds of truth, a theological truth and a scientific truth. Bacon’s essays have often been described as a visionary of science rather than an actual scientist. Bacon’s achievement fell short of his own dream, even if his successors far exceeded it; what unifies and sustains his work imaginative fervour of his version, not the range or precision o fits scientific content. The essay, Of studies, contains many concepts based on the writer's observation on human's mind. This essay contains his logical and experimental approach. It is philosophical and moral. There is a combination of abstract idea with actual images in this essay. In this essay, Study is a good habit. From three points of view study of books is useful. It can be a source of pleasure, it can gather ornamental value, and it makes us able to know something or be successful. Besides spending too much time on reading is sluggish. People should not being bookworms. Natural ability and judgment can be developed by knowledge of books and experience. Different kinds of people read books for different purpose. Crafty men ignore studies, simple men respect, but wise 5
men utilize in their practical life with experience and observation. Study of books is not to make an argument and proof anything wrong as well as not to believe anything without observation. We should study, observe and then consider. The writer suggests us to read any book considering it importance. We should read various types of books and combine reading with conversation and writing, by this way we can develop our personality. “Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man.” This statement shows how realistic he in his approach. In the essay, Of Truth Bacon says that truth is the supreme good for human beings. He describes the inquiry of truth as the wooing of it, the knowledge of truth as the presence of it, and the belief of truth as the enjoying of it. Making an obvious reference to the Bible. Bacon says that the first things created by God were light and the final thing created by Him was the rational faculty that He bestowed upon man. First God created light upon matter or chaos: then He breathed light into the-face of man; and afterwards. He has always been breathing light into the face of those whom He chooses for His special favour. Bacon quotes Lucretius who said that the greatest pleasure for a man was the realization of truth and that, standing upon the vantage ground of truth, a man could survey the errors, falsehoods, and follies prevailing in the world. All these, we might say, are the observations of a philosopher-cum-moralist. Bacon's object in writing this essay is manifestly to instil into the minds of his readers a love of truth. A man's mind, says he, should turn upon the "Poles of truth". Falsehood brings nothing but disgrace. Quoting Montaigne, he says that. In telling a lie. a man is brave towards God but coward towards his fellow-men. He warns human beings against the punishment, which descends upon them on the doomsday for the falsehoods that they indulge in or practice. The essay, Of Great Place, contains a large number of moral precepts but these moral precepts are noted, are synonymous with worldly wisdom. In seeking power, says Bacon, a man loses his liberty. Men in high positions, he observes rightly, derive much of their happiness only from hearing that other people envy them for the positions they are holding. Like a true moralist, he writes: “In place there is licence to do good and evil, whereof the latter is a curse; for in evil, the best condition is not to will, second not can.” The whole purpose of a man’s efforts should, according to Bacon, be meritorious works. Noble performance, he points out, raises a man almost to the status of God. Bacon also warns men of authority against the vices which are likely beset them. There is plenty of worldly wisdom in the guidelines of conduct which he Jays down for men in high positions. No man in a high position will come a cropper if lie follows the advice offered by Bacon. But Bacon teaches no moral idealism and no ideal morality. In fact he is willing to come to terms with morality for the sake of worldly 6
success. For instance, he clearly admits that a man may have to adopt objectionable methods in order to attain a position of high authority. He also approves of a man’s joining a group or a faction in order to enhance his worldly prospects though he suggests that, after a man has achieved the desired end, he should become neutral. This is how lie writes in this connection. ‘‘All rising to great place is by a winding stair; and if there be factions, it is good to side a man’s self whilst he is in the rising, and to balance himself when he is placed.” Even when Bacon urges a high official not to speak ill of his predecessor, lie does so not in the interest of high morality but because there will be unpleasant consequences for the man who does not follow this advice. In other words, Bacon tries to bring about a compromise between morality and the demands of worldly success. The essay, Of Friendship, is the work of a pure utilitarian. Bacon does not speak of friendship in terms of an emotional bond intimately linking two persons. I- makes a purely worldly approach to the subject. He gives us the ‘‘uses’’ of friendship. A friend enables us to give an outlet to our ‘suppressed discontents. A friend clarifies our understanding. The advice given by a friend is most reliable. A friend can speak or act on our behalf in situations in which we ourselves cannot speak or act. There is no idealism involved in all this. Bacon seems to suggest that we need friends only for worldly happiness and worldly good. To put it more bluntly, lie regards pure selfishness as the basis of friendship. This is an essay that clearly shows that Bacon’s wisdom is of a cynical kind, and that his morality is determined by purely utilitarian considerations. He does not speak of the emotional or moral aspect of friendship at all. Bacon makes a utilitarian approach even to studies. In his essay on this subject he speaks of the “pleasure” of studying only to forget it. Nor does he emphasize learning for its own sake. He wants studies to be supplemented by practical experience so that a man may make the best use of both to attain worldly success. Wise men, according to him, are those who put their studies to practical use. He even recommends the study of books “by deputy” and extracts being made of books by others, though he recommends this practice in the case of only the meaner books. He also points out that different branches of study have different effects on the human mind and speaks of curing different mental defects by means of an appropriate choice of studies, Bacon here becomes almost ridiculous by his reducing the whole thing to a formula as if a man whose wits are wandering could really achieve powers of concentration by being made to study mathematics. Bacon forgets that everybody does not have an aptitude for mathematics or for any other particular branch of study. But it is Bacon the man of the world who speaks here, not the true scholar 7
that he really was. He allows his scholarship and his philosophy to be pushed into the background by his worldly enthusiasm. In the essay, of Marriage and Single Life, Bacon's wisdom, again, is not of the profound or philosophical variety it is worldly wisdom and much of this wisdom is cynical. The very opening sentence of this essay is cynical because Bacon here expresses the view that a married man with children cannot undertake great enterprises: "He that hath wife and children hath given hostages to fortune." And he goes on to say, what is certainly not true, that the "best works and of greatest merit for the public have proceeded from the unmarried or childless men." As in the case of Friendship; Bacon forgets the emotional element, and in this case also the passionate element which generally enters into marriage. What could be more utilitarian than the remark that a wife is a mistress when the husband is young, that she is a companion when he enters middle age, and that she is is a nurse when he grows old? He wants soldiers to be married because then they will fight better! He thinks that by getting married a dishonest judge will become honest! The essay, Of Suitors that completely exposes Bacon. He certainly indulges in a lot of moralizing here. For instance, he disapproves of persons who undertake suits without any real intention to have them granted he disapproves of a man giving false hopes to a petitioner whose suit he has undertaken; and so on. But he comes to terms with morality when he suggests that if a patron wants to favour the undeserving of the two parties in a legal case, he should bring about a compromise between the two parties instead of pronouncing the judgment in favour of the deserving person. Bacon here does not categorically reject the case of the undeserving person: on the contrary, he wants the undeserving person to be accommodated. Again, he goes on to say that if a patron wants to appoint a less deserving candidate to a post, he should do so without passing adverse remarks against the character of the more deserving applicant. Here is a great moralist willingly condoning a patron's action in appointing a less deserving candidate to a post which lies in his patronage! Bacon’s pragmatism shows the flexibility of his principles, suitably adapted to the individual case also. In ‘Of Marriage and Single Life’, the advantages of married life are variously computed for different professions and conditions of men the morality of wealth differs with the method by which riches are acquired. The justification of revenge also varies according to circumstance. The rejection of a steam-rolling abstract principle this insistence on a constant moral alertness in the individual to judge his particular case. In ‘Of Ambition’ ambition is considered as a factor in practical affairs. The psychological aspects of ambition are considered as a means of end. So in ‘Of boldness, of vain-glory, of 8
deformity the qualities in questions are considered eternally, clinically, with little moral judgment, and little feeling for the character who embody these qualities. The silent pragmatism can relax into genuine compassion: ‘The joys of parents are secret; and so are their grief and fears. They cannot utter the one; nor they will not utter the other.’ (Of parents and children) or humorous appreciation of human foible: Chaste women are often proud and forward, as presuming upon the merit of her chastity. (Of marriage and single life) or an extreme of self-sacrifice; ‘…why should I be angry with a man, for loving himself better than me?’ (Of revenge) Bacon was familiar with the daily details of administration as with principles and ideals. The influence of Machiavelli is obvious, but Bacon handles his Machiavellian tenets with the ease of ‘Of experience’, whereby a political principle comes garbed in the readiness of common examples and applications, and is frequently tempered by moral scruple or humane sympathy. Machiavelli writers with a more abstract, academic single-mindedness. Most of his examples are from history. Bacon also cites from history but his arguments mostly should say without some exclusion he draws mainly by his experience. He does indeed profess to value ‘what should be thought’ rather than ‘what might be said’; but he is patently preoccupied with the aim of impressing, pleasing and influencing people. The dance image of ‘Of discourse’ suggests this courtly grace. The intellectual benefits of conversation are made clearer in ‘Of studies’ in the praise of conference. Elsewhere, he prizes conference even above private study. Even so, the full activity of reading, discussion and writing seems to be considered only as one of the many exercises that the versatile courtier must perform. Bacon explicitly shuns the humour of a scholar; he wises to correct his studies by experience and then use them directly; and he proposes that one plan one’s studies so as to cure one’s deficiencies and produce a balanced and versatile mind. The type of study described in the essay will hardly lead to advancement of learning, let alone n instauration. It will only provide the man of the world with his necessary intellectual equipment. Bacon permits himself a relaxed, unreflecting, contemplative delight. We must not skim lightly over the lists: if we pause to consider the identity and nature of each flower he mentions, we will see how sensitive he was to colour and scent, how keenly alive to growth and change in nature. How he arranges his garden letting his luxuries imagination indulge in every plant and ornament he could conceive. 9
There is no doubt that Bacon’s essays are full of wisdom. Worldly wisdom means the necessary of achieving worldly success. It does not imply any deep philosophy or any ideal morality. Simply it means for the art or the technique of a man that should he employ to be successful in his practical life. Bacon’s essays are employing this kind of wisdom. He intended his essays to provide guidance to his reader as could help them in attaining success in civil life. His approaches in essays are practical and he has emphasized the practical and rational management of human affairs. The wisdom is won by observation and that is possible when a man sees much and judges his experience with a shrewd and contemplative mind. Bacon tries to satisfy needs of human life with the practical wisdom and philosophical speculations on the various aspects of human life and the world. He has made his aim clear in his essay with the clarity of vision. Bacon does not stray away from the subject that he places before himself. There are no digressions or divagations in his essays, nothing irrelevant to the subject mater. He put the ideas together I his essays with a random, we cannot claim that an essay by Bacon is a structural unity. He does not allow himself to any loiter and roam. There is no tight connection between the various ideas that is why we cannot describe his essays as wellknit compositions. His essays consists a series of counsels to the people of ambition that are all moral lessons. His practical approaches infuse in his generalizations and element of universality and they appeal to the human heart of all ages and places. Such statements as “Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man.” (Of Studies) “Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested.” (Of Studies) “For there is no man, the imparth his joys to his friend, but he joyeth the more; and no man that imparth his griefs to his friend, but he grieveth the less.” (Of Friendship) “…the best receipt (best, I say, to work, and best to take) is the admonition of a friend.” (Of Friendship) “…Love is over matter of comedies, and now and then of tragedies; but in life it doth much mischief; sometimes like a fury.” (Of Love) are examples of wisdom of Bacon’s practical wisdom that have earned from experience of life. -----------------------------------------------------------------
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References 1) Books: a) Bacon’s Works and Letters and Life, 14 volumes. b) Francis Bacon: His Career and His thought. - Anderson. c) The experience of Bacon’s Essays. - Fish, Stanley. d) Francis Bacon and Modernity. - Whitney, Charles. e) Francis Bacon: from Magic to Science. - Rossi, Paolo. f) The Short Oxford History of English Literature. - Andrew Sunders. g) The Oxford Book of English Verse. - William J. Long.
2) Websites:
h) www.trivia-library.com i) www.wikiquote.org j) www.bookrags.com k) www.wekianswers.com l) www.tutor.com m)www.assets.cambridge.org
3) Research papers:
a) Delia Bacon. b) Apostle of Protest -W. Owen. 11
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