Francis Bacon was
the founder of the modern scientific method. The
focus on the new
scientific method is on orderly experimentation. For Bacon,
experiments that
produce results are important. Bacon pointed out the need
for clear and
accurate thinking, showing that any mastery of the world in
which man lives
was dependent upon careful understanding. This understanding is based solely on
the facts of this
world and not as the ancients held it in ancient philosophy. This new modern
science provides
the foundation for modern political science. Bacon's political science
completely
separated
religion and
philosophy. For Bacon, nothing exists in the universe except
individual
bodies. Although he did not offer a complete theory of the nature
of the universe,
he pointed the way that science, as a new civil religion,
might take in
developing such a theory.
Bacon divided
theology into the natural and the revealed. Natural
theology is the
knowledge of God which we can get from the study of nature and
the creatures of
God. Convincing proof is given of the existence of God but
nothing more.
Anything else must come from revealed theology. Science and
philosophy have
felt the need to justify themselves to laymen. The belief
that nature is
something to be vexed and tortured to the compliance of man
will not satisfy
man nor laymen. Natural science finds its proper method when
the 'scientist'
puts Nature to the question, tortures her by experiment and
wrings from her
answers to his questions. The House of Solomon is directly
related to these
thoughts. "It is dedicated to the study of Works and the
Creatures of
God" (Bacon, 436). Wonder at religious questions was natural,
but, permitted
free reign, would destroy science by absorbing the minds and
concerns of men.
The singular advantage of Christianity is its irrationality.
The divine soul
was a matter for religion to handle. The irrational soul was
open to study and
understanding by man using the methods of science.
The society of
the NEW ATLANTIS is a scientific society. It is
dominated by
scientists and guided by science. Science conquers chance and
determines change
thus creating a regime permanently pleasant. Bensalem,
meaning
"perfect son" in Hebrew, has shunned the misfortunes of time, vice
and
decay. Bensalem
seems to combine the blessedness of Jerusalem and the
pleasures and
conveniences of Babylon. In Bacon's NEW ATLANTIS, the need for
man to be driven
does not exist. Scarcity is eliminated thereby eliminating
the need for
money. "But thus, you see, we maintain a trade, not for gold,
silver or
jewels... nor for any other commodity of matter, but only for God's
first creature
which was light" (Bacon, 437). This shows a devotion to truth
rather than
victory and it emphasizes the Christian piety to which the
scientist is
disposed by virtue of his science. As man observes and brings
the fruits of his
observations together, he discover likeness' and
differences among
events and objects in the universe. In this way he will
establish laws
among happenings upon which he can base all subsequent action.
Bacon realized
that sometimes religious ideas and the discoveries of nature
and careful
observations were contradictory but he argued that society must
believe both.
The NEW ATLANTIS
begins with the description of a ship lost at sea.
The crew
"lift up their hearts and voices to God above, who showeth his
wonders in the
deep, beseeching him of his mercy" (Bacon, 419). Upon spotting
land and
discerning natives the sailors praise God. When a boarding party
comes to their
ship to deliver messages, none of the natives speak. Rather,
the messages are
delivered written on scrolls of parchment. The parchment is
"signed with
a stamp 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 ask "Are ye Christians?" (Bacon, 421). When the sailors
confirm that they
are, they are taken to the island of Bensalem. On Bensalem,
the sailors are
'confined' to their resting place and are attended to
according to
their needs. The sailors reply, "God surely is manifested in
this land"
(Bacon, 424). Upon talking to the governor the next day, he
exclaims "Ye
knit my heart to you by asking this question, [the hope that
they might meet
heaven], in the first place, for it showeth that you first
seek the kingdom
of heaven" (Bacon, 427). This is not true. The sailors have
already sought
food, shelter and care of the sick. In other words, they had
sought self
preservation. As Bacon put it, "they had already prepared for
death"
(Bacon, 419).
After the Feast
of the Family, the father of Salomon's House has a
conference with
the travelers. The father says, "I will give the greatest
jewel that I
have. For I will impart to thee... a relation of the true state
of Salomon's
House" (Bacon, 447). The greatest 'jewel' is not one of monetary
value but of
knowledge. The father continues, "The End of our Foundation is
the Knowledge of
Causes and secret motion of things, and the enlarging of the
bounds of Human
Empire, to the affecting of all things possible" (bacon, 447).
This is the
turning point from religion to science and science becoming the
new civil
religion. From this comes the ability of human rule over Nature.
It was stated
before that they were interested in "God's first creature which
was light"
(Bacon, 437). This contradicts an earlier statement that "It is
dedicated to the
study of Works and Creatures of God" (Bacon, 436). The
former obviously
an indication to science as the latter is to religion.
Bacon stresses
the importance of 'light' as the precursor of 'fruit'
to suggest that
they are following the divine instrument. There are two
images used by
Bacon to refer to knowledge, torture and light. The torture
refers to the
violent twisting of nature's 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, on the other hand, is the meaning for
natural
philosophy. From Salomon's house there go forth 'merchants of light'
and 'lamps'.
Light is identified with truth. Supposing that light is
symbolic of
natural philosophy, then it dismisses the case of light being
divine
philosophy. The light in Bacon is primarily the light of Nature. The
obvious contrast
here is one between "gold and silver and light" (Bacon, 437).
Light, here is
noble where gold and silver are base. The 'noble light' is for
the beneficence
of all man. Bcaon took the modern spirit and weaved them
together so as to
suggest a method by which man could master the universe. He
did this to the
end that he might exhibit therein a model or description of a
college
instituted for the interpreting of nature and the producing 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 of rare and excellent inventions. In the other gallery
are placed
statues of inventors. It is interesting to note here that while
the island and
its natives act in "so civil a fashion" (Bacon, 423) in
professing to be
Christian and religious that they place science so high on
their list.
Science is placed so high that instead of having statues of God
and his works,
they erect statues of inventors of the western world thereby
showing their
commonness and baseness to human 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 turning of them into good and
holy uses"
(Bacon, 457). The statues are erected to the memory of what the
natives consider
most important for in Bacon, the scientists are a consecrated
priesthood.
In Bacon's NEW
ATLANTIS, religion plays an important role. However,
it is a role 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 a
realm of its own outside of and different from philosophy, he
held that there
were religious laws that man must obey whether or not they
appeared
reasonable. By freeing theology and philosophy, Bacon was able to
shape philosophy
so that it might undertake an unbiased study of the universe.
This left man
subject to the will of God and thereby shorn of his freedom. It
is obvious that
this creation could not long satisfy the thinking mind as it
was far too
contradictory. The laymen have a genuine thirst for knowledge yet
they cannot know
what is uncovered either by religion or by science.
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