Page 143 - DENG105_ELECTIVE_ENGLISH_II

Elective English–II

Notes one. (This notion of surpassing ancient authority is aptly illustrated on the frontispiece of the
1620 volume containing the New Organon by a ship boldly sailing beyond the mythical pillars
of Hercules, which supposedly marked the end of the known world.)
The New Organon is presented not in the form of a treatise or methodical demonstration but
as a series of aphorisms, a technique that Bacon came to favour as less legislative and dogmatic
and more in the true spirit of scientific experiment and critical inquiry. Combined with his gift
for illustrative metaphor and symbol, the aphoristic style makes the New Organon in many
places the most readable and literary of all Bacon’s scientific and philosophical works.

The Idols
In Book I of the New Organon (Aphorisms 39-68), Bacon introduces his famous doctrine of the
“idols.” These are characteristic errors, natural tendencies, or defects that beset the mind and
prevent it from achieving a full and accurate understanding of nature. Bacon points out that
recognizing and counteracting the idols is as important to the study of nature as the recognition
and refutation of bad arguments is to logic. Incidentally, he uses the word “idol” – from the
Greek eidolon (“image” or “phantom”) – not in the sense of a false God or heathen deity but
rather in the sense employed in Epicurean physics. Thus a Baconian idol is a potential deception
or source of misunderstanding, especially one that clouds or confuses our knowledge of external
reality.
Bacon identifies four different classes of idol. Each arises from a different source, and each
presents its own special hazards and difficulties.

1. The Idols of the Tribe.
These are the natural weaknesses and tendencies common to human nature. Because they are
innate, they cannot be completely eliminated, but only recognized and compensated for. Some
of Bacon’s examples are:
• Our senses—which are inherently dull and easily deceivable. (Which is why Bacon prescribes
instruments and strict investigative methods to correct them.)
• Our tendency to discern (or even impose) more order in phenomena than is actually
there. As Bacon points out, we are apt to find similitude where there is actually singularity,
regularity where there is actually randomness, etc.
• Our tendency towards “wishful thinking.” According to Bacon, we have a natural inclination
to accept, believe, and even prove what we would prefer to be true.
• Our tendency to rush to conclusions and make premature judgments (instead of gradually
and painstakingly accumulating evidence).
2. The Idols of the Cave.
Unlike the idols of the tribe, which are common to all human beings, those of the cave vary
from individual to individual. They arise, that is to say, not from nature but from culture and
thus reflect the peculiar distortions, prejudices, and beliefs that we are all subject to owing to
our different family backgrounds, childhood experiences, education, training, gender, religion,
social class, etc. Examples include:
• Special allegiance to a particular discipline or theory.
• High esteem for a few select authorities.
• A “cookie-cutter” mentality – that is, a tendency to reduce or confine phenomena within
the terms of our own narrow training or discipline.

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