Francis Bacon: Freedom, Authority and Science

MANZO, SILVIA

The British Journal of the History of Philosophy

Routledge- Taylor and Francis Group

Lugar: Nueva York; Año: 2006 vol. 14 p. 245 - 273

0960-8788

During the emergence of early modern science a novel kind of power arose from the new forms of knowledge. Central to this process was a new attitude towards authority, from which the quarrel between “ancients” and “moderns” was developed. Criticisms aiming at the elimination of the traditional criterion of authority made possible the emergence of a new worldview. Once the authority of the ancients began to be questioned, intellectuals committed to the construction of a different kind of knowledge needed to establish legitimate sources of authority. If ancient opinions are not to be accepted as criteria of the truth of theories, from which sources should authority stem? There was no unanimous answer to this question. In fact, the ‘moderns’ agreed that the older patterns of authority should be rejected, but they did not have a unanimous opinion concerning what should replace it. The aim of this article is to examine how Bacon proposed to replace the older patterns of authority and freedom in science. I hope that this textual exegesis will contribute to the reflection on freedom and power in Modernity. In doing this I have in mind three important considerations. In the first place, Bacon deals with authority and freedom in different fields: theology, law, politics and science. In the second place, the psychological conditions of scientists are relevant in order to examine the extent of the scientific freedom. In the third place, Bacon thought of science as part of a political network.  Sections I and II expose Bacon’s approach to authority in the theology, law and politics by contrasting his ideas on  authority and science. Sections III deals with the psychological aspects of the freedom of the scientist. Sections IV and V are concerned with authority in science considered both as an institution of the state and as the inquisition of nature.