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Gowher Ahmad Naik, Lovely Professional University
Unit 11: Of Revenge by Francis Bacon

Unit 11: Of Revenge by Francis Bacon Notes

CONTENTS
Objectives

Introduction
11.1 Life and Political Career

11.2 Thought and Writings
11.3 Reputation and Cultural Legacy
11.4 Of Revenge
11.5 Summary

11.6 Keywords
11.7 Review Questions
11.8 Further Readings

Objectives

After reading this unit, you will be able to:
• Know about Francis Bacon;

• Discuss Of Revenge.

Introduction

Sir Francis Bacon (later Lord Verulam, the Viscount St. Albans and Lord Chancellor of England)
was an English lawyer, statesman, essayist, historian, intellectual reformer, philosopher, and
champion of modern science. Early in his career he claimed “all knowledge as his province”
and afterwards dedicated himself to a wholesale revaluation and re-structuring of traditional
learning. To take the place of the established tradition (a miscellany of Scholasticism, humanism,
and natural magic), he proposed an entirely new system based on empirical and inductive
principles and the active development of new arts and inventions, a system whose ultimate
goal would be the production of practical knowledge for “the use and benefit of men” and the
relief of the human condition.
At the same time that he was founding and promoting this new project for the advancement
of learning, Bacon was also moving up the ladder of state service. His career aspirations had
been largely disappointed under Elizabeth I, but with the ascension of James his political
fortunes rose. Knighted in 1603, he was then steadily promoted to a series of offices, including
Solicitor General (1607), Attorney General (1613), and eventually Lord Chancellor (1618). While
serving as Chancellor, he was indicted on charges of bribery and forced to leave public office.
He then retired to his estate where he devoted himself full time to his continuing literary,
scientific and philosophical work. He died in 1626, leaving behind a cultural legacy that, for
better or worse, includes most of the foundation for the triumph of technology and for the
modern world as we currently know it.

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