Francis Bacon
Pre-reading
Francis Bacon (1561-1626) was an English philosopher, statesman, orator, essayist and author. He served both as Attorney General and as Lord Chancellor of England and was knighted in 1603. He died of pneumonia, which he supposedly contracted while studying the effects of freezing on the preservation of meat. Bacon has been called the father of empiricism and the founder of English materialist philosophy and modern science. His works established and popularized inductive methodologies for scientific inquiry. Francis Bacon’s philosophy is displayed in the vast and varied writings he left. His major works are collected in Works by Francis Bacon, which includes articles dealing with scientific methodology, religion, literature and juridical affairs.
Prompts for Your Reading
1.Decide what kind of love Bacon focuses on in this passage. Does Bacon mean love in its broad sense, as in “love of man and nature”, or does he mean love in its narrow sense, as in “falling in love with someone”?
2.Make a list of the ideas expressed in this passage. Which one do you think is the dominant point of this passage?
3.How are the ideas connected with each other, in time order, in parallel, in causal relations, or in categories?
4.Do the proper nouns, including names like Marcus Antonius, Appius Claudius Juno and Pallas, have special implications in this passage? Find out the stories behind these names.
5.In what way do you find Bacon’s English different from modern English?
6.How would you describe the general tone of this passage?
[1] The stage is more beholding to love, than the life of man. For as to the stage, love is ever matter of comedies, and now and then of tragedies, but in life, it doth much mischief: sometimes like a siren; sometimes like a fury. You may observe, that amongst all the great and worthy persons (whereof the memory remaineth, either ancient or recent) there is not one, that hath been transported to the mad degree of love: which shows, that great spirits, and great business, do keep out this weak passion.