Francis Bacons New Atlantis Essay Example For Students

Francis Bacons New Atlantis Essay Francis Bacons New AtlantisFrancis Bacon was the founder of the modern scientific method. The focus on thenew scientific method is on orderly experimentation. For Bacon, experimentsthat produce results are important. Bacon pointed out the need for clear andaccurate thinking, showing that any mastery of the world in which man lives wasdependent upon careful understanding. This understanding is based solely on thefacts of this world and not as the ancients held it in ancient philosophy. Thisnew modern science provides the foundation for modern political science. Baconspolitical science completely separated religion and philosophy. For Bacon,nothing exists in the universe except individual bodies. Although he did notoffer a complete theory of the nature of the universe, he pointed the way thatscience, as a new civil religion, might take in developing such a theory. Bacon divided theology into the natural and the revealed. Natural theology isthe knowledge of God which we can get from the study of nature and thecreatures of God. Convincing proof is given of the existence of God but nothingmore. Anything else must come from revealed theology. Science and philosophyhave felt the need to justify themselves to laymen. The belief that nature issomething to be vexed and tortured to the compliance of man will not satisfyman nor laymen. Natural science finds its proper method when the scientistputs Nature to the question, tortures her by experiment and wrings from heranswers to his questions. The House of Solomon is directly related to thesethoughts. It is dedicated to the study of Works and the Creatures of God(Bacon, 436). Wonder at religious questions was natural, but, permitted freereign, would destroy science by absorbing the minds and concerns of men. Thesingular advantage of Christianity is its irrationality. The divine soul was amatter for religi on to handle. The irrational soul was open to study andunderstanding by man using the methods of science. The society of the NEW ATLANTIS is a scientific society. It is dominated byscientists and guided by science. Science conquers chance and determines changethus creating a regime permanently pleasant. Bensalem, meaning perfect son inHebrew, has shunned the misfortunes of time, vice and decay. Bensalem seems tocombine the blessedness of Jerusalem and the pleasures and conveniences ofBabylon. In Bacons NEW ATLANTIS, the need for man to be driven does not exist. Scarcity is eliminated thereby eliminating the need for money. But thus, yousee, we maintain a trade, not for gold, silver or jewels nor for any othercommodity of matter, but only for Gods first creature which was light (Bacon,437). This shows a devotion to truth rather than victory and it emphasizes theChristian piety to which the scientist is disposed by virtue of his science. Asman observes and brings the fruits of his observations together, he discoverlikeness and differences among events and objects in the universe. In this wayhe will establish laws among happenings upon which he can base all subsequentaction. Bacon realized that sometimes religious ideas and the discoveries ofnature and careful observations were contradictory but he argued that societymust believe both. The NEW ATLANTIS begins with the description of a ship lost at sea. The crewlift up their hearts and voices to God above, who showeth his wonders in thedeep, beseeching him of his mercy (Bacon, 419). Upon spotting land anddiscerning natives the sailors praise God. When a boarding party comes to theirship to deliver messages, none of the natives speak. Rather, the messages aredelivered written on scrolls of parchment. The parchment is signed with astamp of cherubins wings and by them a cross (Bacon, 420). To the sailors,the cross was a great rejoicing, and as it were a certain presage of good(Bacon, 420). After the natives leave and return to the ship, they stop and askAre ye Christians? (Bacon, 421). When the sailors confirm that they are, theyare taken to the island of Bensalem. On Bensalem, the sailors are confined totheir resting place and are attended to according to their needs. The sailorsreply, God surely is manifested in this land (Bacon, 424). Upon talking tothe governor the next day, he exclaims Ye knit my heart to you by asking thisquestion, the hope that they might meet heaven, in the first place, for itshoweth that you first seek the kingdom of heaven (Bacon, 427). This is nottrue. The sailors have already sought food, shelter and care of the sick. Inother words, they had sought self preservation. As Bacon put it, they hadalready prepared for death (Bacon, 419). .u003783e7a02aa909df982145f6564333 , .u003783e7a02aa909df982145f6564333 .postImageUrl , .u003783e7a02aa909df982145f6564333 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u003783e7a02aa909df982145f6564333 , .u003783e7a02aa909df982145f6564333:hover , .u003783e7a02aa909df982145f6564333:visited , .u003783e7a02aa909df982145f6564333:active { border:0!important; } .u003783e7a02aa909df982145f6564333 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u003783e7a02aa909df982145f6564333 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u003783e7a02aa909df982145f6564333:active , .u003783e7a02aa909df982145f6564333:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u003783e7a02aa909df982145f6564333 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u003783e7a02aa909df982145f6564333 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u003783e7a02aa909df982145f6564333 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u003783e7a02aa909df982145f6564333 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u003783e7a02aa909df982145f6564333:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u003783e7a02aa909df982145f6564333 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u003783e7a02aa909df982145f6564333 .u003783e7a02aa909df982145f6564333-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u003783e7a02aa909df982145f6564333:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Abortion2 EssayAfter the Feast of the Family, the father of Salomons House has a conferencewith the travelers. The father says, I will give the greatest jewel that Ihave. For I will impart to thee a relation of the true state of SalomonsHouse (Bacon, 447). The greatest jewel is not one of monetary value but ofknowledge. The father continues, The End of our Foundation is the Knowledge ofCauses and secret motion of things, and the enlarging of the bounds of HumanEmpire, to the affecting of all things possible (bacon, 447). This is theturning point from religion to science and science becoming the new civilreligion. From this comes the ability of human rule over Nature. It wa s statedbefore that they were interested in Gods first creature which was light(Bacon, 437). This contradicts an earlier statement that It is dedicated tothe study of Works and Creatures of God (Bacon, 436). The former obviously anindication to science as the latter is to religion. Bacon stresses theimportance of light as the precursor of fruit to suggest that they arefollowing the divine instrument. There are two images used by Bacon to refer toknowledge, torture and light. The torture refers to the violent twisting ofnatures secrets. Nature must be conquered but is not adverse to the conquest. The forces of Nature are against us, but in a rather passive manner. Light, onthe other hand, is the meaning for natural philosophy. From Salomons housethere go forth merchants of light and lamps. Light is identified with truth. Supposing that light is symbolic of natural philosophy, then it dismisses thecase of light being divine philosophy. The light in Bacon is primarily thelight of Nature. The obvious contrast here is one between gold and silver andlight (Bacon, 437). Light, here is noble where gold and silver are base. Thenoble light is for the beneficence of all man. Bcaon took the modern spiritand weaved them together so as to suggest a method by which man could masterthe universe. He did this to the end that he might exhibit therein a model ordescription of a college instituted for the interpreting of nature and theproducing of great works for the benefit of man. The island community of Bensalem also has two long and fair galleries (Bacon,456). In one gallery the native place all manner of patterns and samples ofrare and excellent inventions. In the other gallery are placed statues ofinventors. It is interesting to note here that while the island and its nativesact in so civil a fashion (Bacon, 423) in professing to be Christian andreligious that they place science so high on their list. Science is placed sohigh that instead of having statues of God and his works, they erect statues ofinventors of the western world thereby showing their commonness and baseness tohuman preservation. They do, however, have certain hymns and services, which(we) say daily, of laud and praise to God for his marvelous works (Bacon, 457). But, even this is done for the illumination of (their) labors and the turningof them into good and holy uses (Bacon, 457). The statues are erected to thememory of what the natives consider most important for in Bacon, the scientistsare a consecrated priesthood. In Bacons NEW ATLANTIS, religion plays an important role. However, it is arole of cover-up. It covers up the true idea that Bacon is trying to get across science as the new civil religion. Although he relegated religion into arealm of its own outside of and different from philosophy, he held that therewere religious laws that man must obey whether or not they appeared reasonable. .uf4ad120b8e6451df5aa61b92322287ff , .uf4ad120b8e6451df5aa61b92322287ff .postImageUrl , .uf4ad120b8e6451df5aa61b92322287ff .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .uf4ad120b8e6451df5aa61b92322287ff , .uf4ad120b8e6451df5aa61b92322287ff:hover , .uf4ad120b8e6451df5aa61b92322287ff:visited , .uf4ad120b8e6451df5aa61b92322287ff:active { border:0!important; } .uf4ad120b8e6451df5aa61b92322287ff .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .uf4ad120b8e6451df5aa61b92322287ff { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .uf4ad120b8e6451df5aa61b92322287ff:active , .uf4ad120b8e6451df5aa61b92322287ff:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .uf4ad120b8e6451df5aa61b92322287ff .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .uf4ad120b8e6451df5aa61b92322287ff .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .uf4ad120b8e6451df5aa61b92322287ff .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .uf4ad120b8e6451df5aa61b92322287ff .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .uf4ad120b8e6451df5aa61b92322287ff:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .uf4ad120b8e6451df5aa61b92322287ff .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .uf4ad120b8e6451df5aa61b92322287ff .uf4ad120b8e6451df5aa61b92322287ff-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .uf4ad120b8e6451df5aa61b92322287ff:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Entrepreneur Observation Report EssayBy freeing theology and philosophy, Bacon was able to shape philosophy so thatit might undertake an unbiased study of the universe. This left man subject tothe will of God and thereby shorn of his freedom. It is obvious that thiscreation could not long satisfy the thinking mind as it was far toocontradictory. The laymen have a genuine thirst for knowledge yet they cannotknow what is uncovered either by religion or by science.