COMMENT: Bacon's The Great Instauration is best approached as
 a treatise on intellectual method;
 a critique of past methods of reasoning;
 an effort to found philosophic (scientific??) "modernity".
In order to understand Bacon's Great Instauration, then, we need to discover Bacon's ideal of "intellectual science" –
 its means of operation,
 its subject matter,
 and its goal.
We must consider his critiques of
 common sense,
 of traditional logic,
 and of traditional cultural and intellectual authority.

Finally , we must pay careful attention to Bacon's "style of discourse". Bacon's style in fact constitutes a significant dimension of his method of philosophizing: in short, he depends -- much like Socrates -- on metaphor, simile, and analogy. Thus, you should pay particular attention to how his metaphors work and to their appropriateness to his argument.
In The Advancement of Learning Bacon concerns are broader than the natural sciences or natural history. He includes divine learning, philosophy, poesy, and history. There is, in fact, when the whole work is read -- our selection is from the first book -- a great program for the organization and support or the disciplines, a type of "university". The selection here focuses on the question of learning's right and wrong uses; its legitimate subjects and its overreaching; in short, an "ethics" of the disciplines both scientific and humanistic.
READING ASSIGNMENT.

Bacon, The Great Instauration, en toto.

Bacon, selection from The Advancement of Learning.

Bacon, selection from The New Organon.

Paolo Rossi, Francis Bacon: From Magic to Science. (Optional)

Stephen J. Gould, "Bacon Brought Home: The philosophy of Francis Bacon".
(Optional)
The selection from Paolo Rossi, Francis Bacon: From Magic to Science provides a brief introduction to Bacon's themes. Use this as background material and as a text to "think with" rather than as a text to think about. It will prove especially useful when writing your papers. I strongly suggest you read the Stephen J. Gould article. Gould is a "real natural scientist" — evolutionary biologist — who never fails to recognize the cultural and philosophical consequences of science.
READING QUESTIONS : Questions 1-9 follow the progress of The Great
Instauration . However, Bacon often returns to an issue with a new or expanded or contradictory consideration. I suggest you sketch brief answers or at least note page references. (As always, feel free to discuss the questions and the readings among yourselves before class.) For The Advancement of Learning questions 10-14 really focus two issues: the value and the limits of "learning".

1.
What prospects does Bacon envision for the future "advancement of mankind" by means of the "natural force of understanding" and the "instruments of Logic"?
What "errors" previously obstructed advancement? What does Bacon claim will enable his approach to overcome them?
2.
In his "Preface" what does Bacon judge to have been the "value and utility" of
Greek philosophy for "intellectual science"? How does over-valuation of the past impoverish the future? (Do you agree?)
3.
What is discovered by Bacon's comparing the "mechanical arts" with the
"intellectual sciences"? How does this relate to "experiments of fruit" vs.
"experiments of light"? Why can neither the "natural force of man's understanding" nor "accidental felicity" advance the arts and sciences? What does this tell us about reality and about the "eye of human understanding"?
4.
Why can there be no conflict between science and religion as Bacon describes them? How does this follow from his understanding of the means of human thought and advancement? How does the final sentence of Bacon's "Preface" constitute a call to intellectual revolution?
5.
In "The Plan" how does Bacon employ the term "coasting voyage"? How does this relate to his previous use of "mariners needle"?
6.
Why does Bacon think the syllogism a faulty form of logic? What is implied for scientific discourse by his critique of words? Why does Bacon judge the senses to be faulty? How does his "induction" repair both the faults of the senses and the inadequacy of logic?
7.
What does Bacon mean by "natural history"? Why have previous such efforts failed? What precautions or remedies does he prescribe?
8.
How does Bacon propose to utilize "examples of inquiry and invention"? and the
"discoveries, proofs, and additions" achieved by "the ordinary use of understanding"?
9.
What is the ultimate philosophy toward which Bacon's program in The Great
Instauration tends? How does his 6-point plan correspond to our/your notion of modern science? modern philosophy? (Does modern science = modern philosophy?)
10.
In The Advancement of Learning , how does Bacon justify learning against the apparent claims that human inquiry is a vain curiousity, an affront to the divine, and something directly contermanded by scripture?

11.
What does he see as the relation of faith and natural reason? What limits, if any, does he set to reason in natural and humanistic learning? Does the same standard cover divine learning (i.e. theology and divinity)?
12.
Do the errors of reason, and maybe even its violations, have any benefits? Should natural inquiry be prescriptively limited?
13.
How does Bacon gloss the quotation from Proverbs 25:2, "THE GLORY OF
GOD IS TO CONCEAL A THING, BUT THE GLORY OF THE KING IS TO
FIND IT OUT"?
14.
Why does Bacon think "learning" gives great pleasure? How does "durability" of ideas play into estimating the value of learning? Do you/we agree?
TWO ASSIGNMENTS FOR DISCUSSION: (Be prepared to discuss BOTH. You must submit only ONE.)
I. Diagram Bacon's understanding of the relationships between
 the human senses & the intellect;
 the natural world;
 knowledge & truth.
Can you add
OR
Where should we add
 the divine or the realm of supernatural?
 the practice of religion?
II. Explicate as much of Bacon's The Great Instauration as you think possible using his metaphor "lawful marriage" and its attendant terms?