Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St. Alban KC (22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626) was an English philosopher, statesman and essayist. His works argued for the possibility of scientific knowledge based only upon inductive reasoning and careful observation of events in nature. Most importantly, he argued this could be achieved by use of a sceptical and methodical approach whereby scientists aim to avoid misleading themselves. His general idea of the importance and possibility of a skeptical methodology makes Bacon the father of the scientific method. This marked a new turn in the rhetorical and theoretical framework for science, the practical details of which are still central in debates about science and methodology today.
Biography information from
Wikiquote·
Portrait adapted from
Wikimedia Commons, Paul van Somer I / Formerly attributed to Frans Pourbus the Younger (Public domain / CC0)
Also Known As
Alternative Names:
Franciscus Bacon
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Francis Bacon of Verulamius
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Francis Bacon, Lord Verulam
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Bacon, Francis, 1561-1626
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Francis Bacon, Viscount Saint Alban
Portrait from Wikimedia Commons. Credit: Paul van Somer I / Formerly attributed to Frans Pourbus the Younger. Used under Public domain / CC0. Processed and styled by Quotewise.
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As we divided natural philosophy in general into the inquiry of causes, and productions of effects: so that part which concerneth the inquiry of causes we do subdivide according to the received and sound division of causes. The one part, which is physic, inquireth and handleth the material and efficient causes; and the other, which is metaphysic, handleth the formal and final causes.
Men fear death, as children fear to go in the dark; and as that natural fear in children, is increased with tales,
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