Francis Bacon and Rene Descartes Development of the

Francis Bacon and Rene’ Descartes Development of the Intellectual Model

Natural Knowledge • Path toward physical improvement of human nature – COMMAND the process of nature • Movement away from religious explanations • Empiricism – role of experience and evidence • discounted the notion of innate ideas – emphasizes aspects of scientific knowledge that are closely related to evidence • Experiments • Scientific method – Hypothesis and theories MUST be tested against observation of the natural world

Francis Bacon • 1561 -1626 • “father” of empiricism – BUT actually created a climate for scientific study • You can do it! • Criticisms – People pay too much attention to the classics • “everything” was already know

New World • Ancient thinking in an ancient world – Humanism: best era was antiquity • Bacon’s belief – Material improvement THRU empirical study • Increase power of monarchies and government – Government support of science – Supported by the experience of explorers • He made no major contribution to science

Rene’ Descartes • 1596 -1650 • Discourse on Method – Intellectual authority came from a person’s OWN reason • God-given reason could not be false – God does not deceive • Two categories (no place for spirits, nonmaterial) – Thinking things (mind) • Human reason can understand the world induction – Things occupying space (body) • Scientific induction – Generalizations drawn from test hypothesis

Ways to obtain knowledge Why? Control nature, create useful inventions, improve standard of living • Francis Bacon (England) – Inductive reasoning (empirical method) – Specifics generalities • “all of the cows I have ever seen are spotted. ” One might, in turn, say that therefore all cows must be spotted. This is not actually the case, but given the available information, one might be forgiven for thinking it. • Rene Descartes (France) – Deductive reasoning • Doubt everything – Generalities specifics – It is possible to arrive at an unsound result by using an initial premise which is false, as in this case: Every animal that eats mice is a cat. Rover eats mice. Therefore, Rover is a cat.