Sir Francis Bacon: Part One
The first part of two on the life and times of one of England's most brilliant philosophers, essayists and statesmen.
Francis Bacon was a brilliant man who was many things to many people of his day. An English philosopher, statesman and essayist, he began his adult life as a lawyer, but became best known as a philosopher who defended the scientific revolution. The Baconian Method, which became very popular, involved a methodology for scientific inquiry that was like nothing ever established before. It concerned the drawing of knowledge from the natural world through he process of experimentation, observation and the testing of hypotheses. These were daring thoughts in the Elizabethan world of his day, and considered occult and alchemy.
He was one of the most influential figures in history because of his theories. Some argue that he was not really a philosopher but rather a proponent of developing philosophy through deductive reasoning. His most famous axiom is his statement "knowledge is power."
Francis Bacon had his secrets and his shame. He betrayed his friend, the Earl of Sussex, in order to maintain the royal favor of the Queen, a fact that he later regretted. He was also a man who preferred the sexual company of other younger men and did little to hide this fact, no matter how it affected his public image. His mother, in writing to one of his brothers, referred to being exasperated with Francis's coach companion, which in Bacon's day connoted the interior of a traveling coach (which was a very private place).
Read on to learn more about the about the first half of the life and times of this amazing man.
