Philosophy - Why Were Francis Bacon's Ideas Revolutionary?
Why were Francis Bacon's ideas revolutionary?
Francis Bacon (1561–1626) was an English scientist, philosopher, and politician. His ideas were considered revolutionary because he proposed that scientific knowledge handed down from the ancient Greek philosophers Plato (428–347 B.C.) and Aristotle (384–322 B.C.) was based on circumstantial evidence or prior beliefs and was therefore false. Bacon contended that people cannot ask questions or make new discoveries by blindly believing false ideas about nature
In Novum Organum, Bacon presented methods of learning that used instruments to make measurements and to observe nature. He asserted that scientists could use these new methods to determine the laws of nature. Later Bacon's techniques became known as the scientific method. Although he believed the scientific method would work in the realm of nature, he did not think it could be applied to...
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