Of StudiesBy: Francis Bacon

Francis Bacon(1561-1626)

Sir Francis Bacon (later Lord Verulam and the Viscount St. Albans) was an English lawyer, statesman, essayist, historian, intellectual reformer, philosopher, and champion of modern science.

Early Life and Education: Born on January 22, 1561 in Strand, London

His father, Sir Nicholas Bacon, was a famous English politician and Lord Keeper of the Great Seal during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I of England.

His mother, Lady Anne Cooke, daughter of Sir Anthony Cooke, a knight and one-time tutor to the royal family.

Bacon was mostly homeschooled in his early years. He entered Trinity College, Cambridge in 1573 to 1575 when he was merely 12. He also attended the University of Poitiers

Contributions and Achievements: Francis Bacon is often called the father of modern science.

He initiated a massive reformation of every process of knowledge for the advancement of learning divine and human.

As the creator of empiricism, Francis Bacon formulated a set of empirical and inductive methodologies, for setting off a scientific inquiry, known as the Baconian method. His call for a plotted procedure of inquiring things, with an empiricist naturalistic approach, had a profound impact on the rhetorical and theoretical framework for science.

Bacon also served as the philosophical inspiration behind the progress of the Industrial age. He always suggested that scientific work should be done for charitable reasons, and for relieving mankind’s misery with the invention of useful things.

Bacon also authored several books and essays that advocated reformations of the law, and many of them regarding religious, moral and civil meditations.

Later Life and Death:

Francis Bacon was appointed a Lord Chancellor in 1618. Unfortunately, he was accused of bribery and was forced to resign, after which Bacon retired to his estate continuing with his literary, scientific, and philosophical work.

He died of pneumonia in Highgate, London on April 9, 1626 at the age of 65 years old.

Of StudiesStudies serve for delight, for ornament, and for ability. Their chief use for

delight, is in privateness and retiring; for ornament, is in discourse; and for ability, is in the judgment, and disposition of business. For expert men can execute, and perhaps judge of particulars, one by one; but the general counsels, and the plots and marshalling of affairs, come best, from those that are learned. To spend too much time in studies is sloth; to use them too much for ornament, is affectation; to make judgment wholly by their rules, is the humor of a scholar. They perfect nature, and are perfected by experience: for natural abilities are like natural plants, that need pruning, by study; and studies themselves, do give forth directions too much at large, except they be bounded in by experience. Crafty men contemn studies, simple men admire them, and wise men use them; for they teach not their own use; but that is a wisdom without them, and above them, won by observation.

Read not to contradict and confute; nor to believe and take for granted; nor to find talk and discourse; but to weigh and consider. Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested; that is, some books are to be read only in parts; others to be read, but not curiously; and some few to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention. Some books also may be read by deputy, and extracts made of them by others; but that would be only in the less important arguments, and the meaner sort of books, else distilled books are like common distilled waters, flashy things. Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man. And therefore, if a man write little, he had need have a great memory; if he confer little, he had need have a present wit: and if he read little, he had need have much cunning, to seem to know, that he doth not. Histories make men wise; poets witty; the mathematics subtile; natural philosophy deep; moral grave; logic and rhetoric able to contend. Abeunt studia in mores. Nay, there is no stond or impediment in the wit, but may be wrought out by fit studies; like as diseases of the body, may have appropriate exercises.

Bowling is good for the stone and reins; shooting for the lungs

and breast; gentle walking for the stomach; riding for the head;

and the like. So if a man’s wit be wandering, let him study the

mathematics; for in demonstrations, if his wit be called away

never so little, he must begin again. If his wit be not apt to

distinguish or find differences, let him study the Schoolmen; for

they are cymini sectores. If he be not apt to beat over matters,

and to call up one thing to prove and illustrate another, let him

study 197 the lawyers’ cases. So every defect of the mind, may

have a special receipt.

Of Studies by Francis Bacon —

Line by line explanation

Studies serve for delight, for ornament, and for ability. Their chief use for delight, is in privateness and retiring; for ornament, is in discourse; and for ability, is in the judgment, and disposition of business.

Explanation:

Delight: some people gain knowledge for pure delight. People, who acquire knowledge for delight, do so because they enjoy it. For instance, those who play sports practice and learn about their sport because they want to, not because they have to.

Ornament: some people who gain knowledge for mere ornament. These people only want to improve themselves in the eyes of others. These are the people who try to better themselves by bragging about their achievements and accomplishments in conversation with others.

Ability: they want to show that they are able to do something. They learn for themselves in their free time. Ability is widely used in the area of business, those who are well educated rather than those who are not better run a company.

To spend too much time in studies is sloth; to use them too much for ornament, is affectation; to make judgment wholly by their rules, is the humor of a scholar. They perfect nature, and are perfected by experience: for natural abilities are like natural plants, that need pruning, by study; and studies themselves, do give forth directions too much at large, except they be bounded in by experience.

Explanation:

At the same time Bacon encourages studies, he warns that 1) too much studying leads to laziness; 2) if one uses one's knowledge too often in conversation with others, then one is showing off; and 3) to be guided solely by one's studies one becomes a scholar rather than a practical man. Bacon's argument about the value of studies is that moderation is the key to using studies appropriately: studies are wonderful only if influenced by experience because a person's natural abilities are enhanced by studies, but studies without experience, lead to confusion in dealing with the outside world.

Crafty men contemn studies, simple men admire them, and wise men use them; for they teach not their own use; but that is a wisdom without them, and above them, won by observation. Read not to contradict and confute; nor to believe and take for granted; nor to find talk and discourse; but to weigh and consider. Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested; that is, some books are to be read only in parts; others to be read, but not curiously; and some few to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention. Some books also may be read by deputy, and extracts made of them by others; but that would be only in the less important arguments, and the meaner sort of books, else distilled books are like common distilled waters, flashy things.

Explanation:

According to Bacon, dishonest men condemn education; stupid men admire education; but wise men use education as their real world experience dictates. Education is meant to be preparation for the real world. People should not use education to show off and make themselves appear superior to others. Some people make judgments solely on information acquired from books. However, a true scholar would filter that information acquired from books and apply it to their own life experience where it will be useful. In addition, Bacon advises that some books can be read by others, who take notes, and the notes can substitute for reading an entire book--but these books should not be those that cover important subjects.

Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man. And therefore, if a man write little, he had need have a great memory; if he confer little, he had need have a present wit: and if he read little, he had need have much cunning, to seem to know, that he doth not.

Explanation:

Bacon returns to addressing the effects of reading, conversing, and writing: reading creates a well-rounded man; conversation makes a man think quickly; and writing, by which Bacon usually means argument essay writing, makes a man capable of thinking with logic and reason. Further, Bacon argues, if a man doesn't write very much, he has to have a good memory to compensate for what he doesn't write; if he doesn't exercise the art of conversation, he needs to have a quick wit; and if he doesn't read very much, he has to be able "to fake it," to pretend that he knows more than he does.

Histories make men wise; poets witty; the mathematics subtle; natural philosophy deep; moral grave; logic and rhetoric able to contend. Abeuntstudia in mores (studies pass into and influence manners). Nay, there is no stond or impediment in the wit, but may be wrought out by fit studies; like as diseases of the body, may have appropriate exercises. Bowling is good for the stone and reins; shooting for the lungs and breast; gentle walking for the stomach; riding for the head; and the like. So if a man’s wit be wandering, let him study the mathematics; for in demonstrations, if his wit be called away never so little, he must begin again. If his wit be not apt to distinguish or find differences, let him study the Schoolmen; for they are cymini sectores (splitters of hairs). If he be not apt to beat over matters, and to call up one thing to prove and illustrate another, let him study 197 the lawyers’ cases.

Explanation:

History, Bacon argues, makes men wise; poetry, clever; mathematics, intellectually sharp; logic and rhetoric, skilled in argument. Further, Bacon believes that there is no problem in thinking that cannot be fixed by the appropriate study--just as the right physical exercise cures physical illnesses. Every disorder of the mind has a cure--for example, if a man cannot use one set of facts to prove the truth of an un-related set of facts, Bacon advises the study of law.

So every defect of the mind, may have a special receipt.

Explanation:

Every defect in thinking can be cured by another form of study.

Summary: Francis Bacon’s “Of Studies” serves reading of books as a means in

finding man’s purpose in life. It emphasizes the importance of

knowledge, open-mindedness, and theory empowering skill. Without

books, there would not be any needed improvement for man hence no

other means of satisfying his curiosity. A man’s purpose in life is not

limited to appreciating on what he has for, in some perspective, man has

insatiable desires and needs. Hence, being alive means wanting to know

more. The main point of all of it is that there will always be new

discoveries; always a reason to obliterate existing knowledge with a new

one. As said by Gelett Burgess, “If in the last few years you haven’t

discarded a major opinion or acquired a new one, check your pulse. You

may be dead.”

Kamsahamnida!