FRANCIS BACON THE MEAN YET BRILLIANT PHILOSOPHER

Bacon has an amazing personality. After hating him for his misdeeds one finally has to acknowledge the contribution he made to modern philosophy. One can hate his personality but not his intellect.

There were many varieties of philosophers before Sir Francis Bacon, but Sir Francis Bacon is the first scientific philosopher. He is the philosopher that reflected the thinking of the modern world.

The modern era started in Europe before Bacon; Gutenburgh, Colombus, Vasco da Gama, Magellan, Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo, Leonardo da Vinci, Vesalius, William Harvey and Shakespeare appeared and made the world a better place to live in. Bacon represents this modern era and gave it a philosophical justification.

In the olden times before the tremendous developments that took place in science most things are accepted without verification but the modern scientific outlook changed that and asserted that nothing be accepted without proof and verification. Bacon is a philosopher that represented this outlook.

It is the age of Queen Elizabeth which is considered to be the golden age in England. Bacon was born into an aristocratic family in the year 1561. His father Nicholas Bacon was the keeper of the great seal of the Queen and a politician. His mother Lady Ann Cook was very proficient in Greek and Latin and was also a philosopher.

The inheritance of genes from both sides has made Bacon both a politician and a philosopher as well. Unfortunately, they have not been complimentary and appeared separately on their own.

Till the age of 12 years, his mother herself taught him studies. He then joined the Trinity College at Cambridge. He was just 16 years old then but with a razor sharp intellect. Till that time Aristotle was considered an authority on many sciences in Europe. Bacon questioned that and entered into spats with professors on the validity of the Aristotilean systems. He said that Aristotle never checked any of his hypotheses with experiment and rejected all of them.

This is one side of Bacon. On the other side his father died when Bacon was just 18 and left him with an annual income of just 300 pounds and a small house. This is sheer poverty for Bacon. He is a spendthrift and lived a luxurious life. He has made making money by whatever means as the goal of his life. Perhaps if one may say, this may be one of the inheritances of the modern age.

Bacons near relative Sir William Cecil was the Prime Minister of Queen Elizabeth. Bacon lobbied with his uncle for a job in the court but his uncle did not oblige him. He then studied law in Greys Inn and became a famous lawyer, contested for the Parliament and won.

All his thoughts are concentrated on making money and political fame. For 12 years he did his best to get into the Queens court with no result. He then sought the help of the Earl of Essex who is great enemy of his uncle William Cecil. Bacon always spent ahead of his income and almost went to prison a number of times and the Earl of Essex saved him. The Earl even bequeathed an estate to him. Despite the Earls efforts he could not get Bacon into Elizabeth’s court. He wrote many books praising the Queen and gave many speeches with no result again.

After sometime a feud arose between the Earl and the Queen. The opponents of Essex charged him with treason and jailed him. Bacon like the cheat he was turned against Essex, testified against him and charged him with a plot to kill the queen and argued against him. Essex was sentenced to death and his head was cut off. Entire England despised Bacon for his mean mindedness, cheating nature and for stabbing his friend in the back.

That is why the famous English poet Alexander Pope remarked that there is no greater scientist, no greater intellectual and no greater shameless cheat than Bacon in the entire world.

Queen Elizabeth died in 1603 AD and James I from Scotland became the king. Bacon is now ready, he praised and praised James in his numerous letters and supported everything the King did in the Parliament. Finally the King yielded and appointed him as Solicitor General, then the Attorney General and finally Lord Chancellor who is the second highest ranked officer in the British Government. He became very rich and politically very powerful.

As usual it is his mean and cheating nature that brought his downfall. In less than 3 years there were hordes of corruption charges against him. He was tried, dismissed from his office and was imprisoned in the tower of London. After some time King James freed him after eliciting a confirmation from Bacon that he would not again come anywhere near the parliament or courts or into any administrative job.

Earlier he was writing his famous books when he was in politics. After being thrown out he lived in exile for 5 years when he devoted himself fully to philosophy. 

It is said that Rishi Agastya drank up all the oceans. Similarly Bacon imbibed all the world's sciences and proclaimed that I have taken all knowledge to be my province. Bacons Essays are a telling commentary of his knowledge and literate skills.

One wonders as to how Bacon after taking in so much knowledge and with all that brilliance became a miserable human being. Knowledge should lead one to light and not into darkness. But in Bacons case it did just the opposite. Yet, the modern world can never forget Bacon and his contribution to the advancement of humanity.

I will try to write about Bacons philosophy in another note sometime.

VEDIC PHILOSOPHY.

A number of us Hindus who go about our rituals do not really know anything much about our actual religion and philosophy. We simply follow the religion without actually knowing its basis.

I feel we should at least know the basic elements on which our religion is built. I am making a very brief write up on it with a hope that at least those who bother to read it would know a little more about it. The Vedas are pure nature worship in the Samhitas which later passes onto something much more deeper in the Upanishads. There is much more that can be written on this topic but I am restricting it only to the very basics lest it should tax the minds of those who bother to read it.

A layman of philosophy considers the Vedas to be one but that is not the case. In fact each Veda consists of 4 parts.

They are:

1. Samhita, 2. Brahmana, 3. Aranyaka , 4. Upanishads.

There are 4 Samhitas and they are the 1.Rik, 2. Sama, 3.Yajur and 4. Atharva. 

A vedic sacrifice needs 4 priests:

1. Hota- Who addresses hymns in praise of the gods to invoke their presence and participation in the sacrifice.

2. Udgata- Who sings the hymns to entertain and please the gods.

3. Adhvaryu- Who performs the sacrifice according to the strict ritualistic code and gives the offerings to the gods.

4. Brahma- The general supervisor well versed in all the Vedas.

Rik is for the Hota, Sama is for the Udgata, Yajur is for the Adhvaryu and Atharva is for the Brahma.

The Samhitas are in poetry and consist of hymns to various Gods.

The Brahmanas are written in prose. They are the elaboration of the complicated ritualism of the Vedas. They deal with the rules and regulations laid down for the performance of the rites and the sacrifices. There is little philosophy in these and the Samhitas.

The appendages to the Brahmanas are the Aranyakas. They mark the transition from ritualistic to philosophic thought. There is a mystic interpretation of the Vedic sacrifices in them.

The concluding portion of the Aranyakas are the Upanishads. These are intensely philosophical and spiritual.

There are said to be 108 Upanishads in all. However, only 10 on which Sankaracharya has commented are taken as important. They are

1. Isha, 2. Kena, 3. Katha, 4. Prashna, 5. Mundaka, 6. Mandukya, 7. Aitareya, 8. Taittiriya, 9. Chandogya, 10 Brihadaranyaka.

The Upanishads regard karma kanda as secondary, being only a help to purify the mind by which one is made fit to receive the real teaching about Brahman.

TWO SCHOOLS OF PHILOSOPHY--CYNICISM AND EPICUREANISM.

I am giving below two diametrically opposing schools of Philosophy; Cynicism and Epicureanism. My preference is towards Epicureanism. Today we may feel that there is little of value in them, but the questioning spirit and the challenge to the known conventions mark both of them. It is only with challenge and questioning of our thoughts clarify concepts. If man is where he is today, it is only because of this spirit. Both these philosophies are some 2500 years old.

CYNICS.

Antisthenes is supposed to have originated this philosophy. In Latin cynicus means pertaining to dog. From thence the term cynic seems to have arisen. Diogenes, the cynic said that people should live like dogs.

Antisthenes is elder to Plato by 20 years and is a disciple of Socrates. By his time Pericles has died and Greece has become a part of Macedonia.

Antisthenes gave up all his worldly possessions. He lived with the common people and dressed and spoke like them. Like the Anarchists he said that there should not be any form of Government. He said that there should not be any property, the institution of marriage and also religion. He developed brashness in speech and cultivated an aggressive behavior. He believed that all men are selfish and there is nothing called goodness in mankind.

Diogenes, a disciple of Antisthenes surpassed his Guru. He used to live in a tub and used to search around Athens with a flame in hand to find the real man. It is said that one day Diogenes was sitting in the sun. Alexander the Great came to know of his fame and came to see him and asked Diogenes what he wanted. Diogenes asked the Emperor to move from the place where he is standing because Alexander’s shadow fell on him. Then Alexander said, “Had I not been Alexander I would have preferred to live like Diogenes.”

As per Diogenes life is bitter, education is a waste, life is a waste, there is treachery everywhere. Kings, subjects, science, happiness, money, fame, honor, patriotism, good, respect, home, food, culture, law and in fact the entire life is a waste as per him. Men should live like animals in intimacy with nature.

But, the Cynics said how does one gets freedom? In renouncing desires they said. All desires should be renounced they said. Desire creates fear. Riches are not permanent. Our ethics, our renunciation, our freewill, our mind are the only ones which are really ours. If this is cultivated then all world is ours.

Diogenes practiced what he preached. He used to go around begging with a bowl. In the 3rd century BC, Cynicism has become a fashion.

EPICUREANS

Another student of Socrates, Aristippus founded a system of philosophy now known as “Epicureanism”. He was born at Cyrine in Africa and his followers are also known as Cyrenaics.

Aristippus is dead against the Cynics. He said that all living beings try from birth to be happy and therefore, happiness is the ultimate goal of life.

He concurred with the Sophists and said that each person is his own measure. What is seen be one might not be seen by another. Your perception is yours and my perception is mine. I might view the external world differently than you. So one can never generalize about the external world. The same thing can be said about happiness too. You might achieve happiness by one method and I, by another. So, we cannot commit anything to a clear definition. There is nothing called higher or lower in happiness and everything is equal. Sensory happiness is as great as mental happiness because even mental happiness occurs only through the sensory organs. Sensory happiness is the best happiness, and the more intense it is, the happier you are.

The greatest philosopher of this school is Epicurus who was born at Samos in Greece. He established a school in Athens and enlightened many of his students on his philosophy and led a simple life. Although Epicurus believed happiness to be the end of human existence, he did not believe in unfettered happiness.

None of Epicurus’s works survive today and his ideas have come to us through the works of the Roman poet Lucretius.

Epicurus’s school had students from slaves as well as prostitutes. The Athenians claimed that his school is a place of debauchery. But it is possible that his students led a disciplined life. As a man Epicurus is very helpful and friendly. He believed that friendship is the sweetest thing in all of creation. He believed that the aim of life is happiness and life has to be lived happily. But his definition of happiness is different. He said that absence of sorrow is happiness, absence of desire is happiness. A calm mind and self-control is happiness. There is no happiness in searching for happiness; in fact happiness is not searching for happiness. Intense happiness is followed by intense sorrow. Therefore both have to be avoided. One has to enjoy happiness without knowing that one is enjoying it. One has to develop self-control for this. He had digestive problems so he believed that good digestion gives happiness and is very strict about eating habits in his school. He resented politics, property, fame etc. and said that one should live away from society in peace.

The external world does not allow man to live peacefully. One has to shed superstitions and meaningless fear too. One should not fear death and also unknown forces. The soul perishes with the body and nothing is left. It is a state where there are no feelings. So why should one fear death? There are Gods but they live far away and do not interfere in our affairs. They can neither help us nor harm us.

The entire universe is made up of atoms. Who created them? They are ever existing and are self-caused. They have motion in them. He also assumed a crude type of Darwinism.

Like the body, mind too is made up of atoms. With the body mind also perishes and nothing is left.

L