From: About learning
Author: bacon
About the author: Francis Bacon (156 1 year 65438+1October 22nd-1April 9th, 626), a philosopher, thinker and scientist of modern British materialism, was called "the true ancestor of British materialism and the whole modern experimental science" by Marx. Born into a noble family, he is the youngest son of Sir Gulas Bacon, the minister in charge of seals and the chief justice (the highest legal position in the kingdom). Later he became the chief justice of 16 18. In his later years, he divorced from political activities and specialized in scientific and philosophical research. He is the representative of new noble Thought, opposing the theocracy of sovereign power and unlimited sovereign power, and advocating the limitation of kingship; Support Puritanism, advocate reform, but oppose revolution. He pointed out that the misunderstanding and prejudice (which he called illusion) caused by medieval scholasticism must be eliminated in order to clear the way for understanding and science. He inherited the tradition of ancient materialism, acknowledged that nature is matter, and believed that the smallest unit that constitutes all things is the real molecule, that is, the simple essence of things, which is limited and unchangeable. Different things are made up of different arrangements. Movement is the most important inherent characteristic of matter, which is regular and changeable. He called the law of movement of things form. The task of science is to discover forms, so as to gain freedom of action in order to conquer nature. Put forward the slogan "knowledge is power". He put forward the basic principles of materialism and empiricism, holding that feeling is the beginning of understanding, completely reliable and the source of all knowledge. He attaches great importance to the role of scientific experiments in cognition, and believes that only through experiments can we make up for the lack of senses and profoundly reveal the mysteries of nature. He attached importance to induction, emphasized its function and significance, and thought that induction was the only correct method, but denied the one-sided role of deduction. He transplanted isolated and static research methods from natural science into philosophy, which caused the unique limitations of modern European philosophy. His philosophy is not thorough in theology, advocating double truth and acknowledging the existence of God and the immortality of the soul. His materialist philosophy has a great influence on the development of modern philosophy. His main works are: New Tools, Academic Progress, New Island, etc. The representative work New Tools has epoch-making significance and extensive influence in the history of modern philosophy, and philosophers regard it as a pioneer in the transformation from ancient materialism to modern materialism.