Academic skepticism in Francis Bacon’s narrative of the history of philosophy

MANZO, SILVIA

Victoria (BC)

Congreso; Congrès 2013 des sciences humaines; 2013

Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council

Some aspects of Francis Bacon’s reception of ancient skepticism have been the subject of recent scholarly studies. Following the lead of some of them (particularly those by Plínio Junqueira Smith and William Hamlin), this paper tries to contribute to these studies by examining Bacon’s reception and assessment of Academic Skepticism within the broad context of his narrative of the history of philosophy. I shall argue that although Bacon expressed once an apparent preference for skepticism and for some pre-Socratic philosophers akin to the skeptical stance, throughout his philosophical career he consistently ranked skepticism in an intermediate position between the Pre-Socratic and the Aristotelian philosophy. I shall suggest that Bacon’s assessment of skepticism is at least in part informed by the emphasis he placed on the epistemic consequences of the Fall of Adam. [