Francis Bacon 培根作品简介

Francis Bacon and His WorksFrancis BaconFrancis Bacon(1561—1626)was one of the leading figures in natural philosophy and in the field of scientific methodology in the period of transition from the Renaissance to the early modern era.He studied at Cambridge (Trinity College) and Gray's Inn, entered Parliament, and gradually established his reputation, but made little progress during Elizabeth's reign.WorksFrancis Bacon left vast and varied writings, which might be divided into three great branches:Scientifical works — in which his ideas for an universal reform of knowledge, scientific method and the improvement of mankind's state are presented.Religious/literary works — in which he presents his moral philosophy and theological meditations. Juridical works — in which his reforms in Law are proposed.ContributionsFrancis Bacon had made great contributions on Literature, Philosophy, Science, law and art. Literature:Francis Bacon’s literatur al work mostly are proses and essays. There are some features of Bacon's essays: ①the language is very neat, pretty and weighty. ②the sentences are very short. Bacon also likes to use more co-ordinate conjunctions than the subordinated ones, such as "as, since, because". ③the devices are parallelism, epigrams(警句), metaphor,and simile.And his most important work is Essay, which was regarded as one of the greatest prose works in the world for its brevity, compactness and powerfulness. Essay covers a wide variety of subjects, such as love, truth, friendship, politics, economy, religion, beauty, studies, and marriage.Of TruthⅠ Brief Introduction●First published in 1625●Francis Bacon declares that truth in the philosophical and theological sense, as well as honesty in thecivil business sense, are the "sovereign good of human nature."Ⅱ Background Information“What is truth?” said jesting Pilate (Full name: Pontius Pilate)●According to the new testament scripture, at first, Pilate thinks Jesus is innocent, for he had questionedJesus for many times. But under the pressure of the jewish religious leaders, Jesus was sentenced to death.●In the conversation between Pilate and Jesus, Pilate asked,''what have you done?'' Then, Pilateasked:“What is truth?”●Actually Pilate knew Jesus was innocent but he still asked , “What is truth” . At that time a lot of peoplelike Pilate, they do know what is truth but they pretend they don’t know .●Bacon uses this Bible story to introduce his topic——truth. He wants to tell people what is truth andwhat attitude should we take towards truth.Ⅲ TopicThe inquiry of truth, which is the love-making or wooing of it, the knowledge of truth, which is the presence of it, and the belief of truth, which is the enjoying of it, is the sovereign good of human nature.Ⅳ Sentences Analysis1. “But it is not only the difficulty and labor, which men take in finding out of truth, nor again, that when it is found, it imposeth upon men's thoughts, that doth bring lies in favor; but a natural though corrupt love, of the lie itself.”●Up to this point Bacon is saying there are few philosophical skeptics left but humans still prefer thefreedom to choose their own views over the hard work of pursuing truth especially since they consider truth constricting.2. No advantageBacon writes “One of the later school of the Grecians, examineth the matter, and is at a stand, to think what should be in it, that men should love lies; where neither they make for pleasure, as with poets, nor for advantage, as with the merchant; but for the lie's sake.”3. AdvantagesBacon writes “A mixture of a lie doth ever add pleasure. Doth any man doubt, that if there were taken out of men's minds, vain opinions, flattering hopes, false valuations, imaginations as one would, and the like”4. DisadvantagesBacon writes “but it would leave the minds, of a number of men, poor shrunken things, full of melancholy and indisposition, and unpleasing to themselves?”5. “truth, which only doth judge itself, teacheth that the inquiry of truth, which is the love-making, or wooing of it,”●“yet truth, which only doth judge itself” means that “that truth seeking faculty is the sole judge of truth.”●In “the love-making, or wooing of it” Bacon means the happy match between the mind of man and thenature of things.”6. “The first creature of God, in the works of the days, was the light of the sense; the last, was the light of reason.”●Bacon believed that God gave us our senses to determine truth be he also believed God gave us theability to reason to determine truth.Ⅴ Beautiful Sentences1.But I cannot tell; this same truth, is a naked, and open day-light, that doth not show the masks, and mummeries, and triumphs, of the world, half so stately and daintily as candle-lights.余亦难言究竟，唯思真理犹如白日无遮之光，直照人世之歌舞庆典，不如烛光掩映，反能显其堂皇之美。