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Critical Essay on Francis Bacon

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Critical Essay on Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon was an English philosopher, lawyer, and scientist from the early 1600’s. Francis Bacon 's major contribution to philosophy was his application of induction, the approach used by modern science. Otherwise, known as the scientific method. There are 2 steps evident in Bacon’s inductive method which includes: 1. Observe data and 2. Make generalizations from observations. Bacon believed the bible allowed him to explore nature, in which he used his method.

Bacon states “Science, on the other hand should be, by definition progressive, since it is based on limited empirical evidence which is used to test tentative theories with limited scope.” (Bacon, Francis, pg. 6, www.thingsrevealed.net/organon1.htm). He believes you should be able to test science without a narrow view, and not draw conclusions on limited sampling. He referred to the bible and used it with an intellectual interpretation to produce theories. He believed the bible was made to advance Science, and it is not what you read, but how you interpret it. For example, the bible didn’t say the world is flat, but it was left up to you to explore and find out for yourself if it was flat or not. God’s evidence was incomplete; therefore, more research is needed to find the truth. As individuals search for more information, the conclusion can then be supported by new evidence. “The reason why the Orthodox Church did not teach that the earth is not flat is that the bible does not teach any such thing.” (Bacon Francis, pg. 3, www.thingsrevealed.net/organon1.htm). The bible’s comments about earth were left to many different interpretations. One interpretation was by priests of the catholic churches as well as the disciples of God who believed the earth was flat. Next Bacon turns to some of the ancient fathers of the Christian church. These, he said “did not show forbearance toward those who believed that the earth was round and had poles. Today evolutionists often accuse Biblical creationists of



Bibliography: Francis Bacon: The New Organon, September 20, 1997, www.thingsrevealed.net / organon1.htm.

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