Descartes' and Bacon's Discussions About Nature and Knowledge of Science

790 Words4 Pages
Mohammed Abdulrahman Professor Smith Nathan 1 January, 2014 Descartes' and Bacon's discussions about nature and knowledge of science The human mind easily misuses its reason which is an issue that has been giving scientists a hard time to write the present work about nature and the state of knowledge, especially in the past few centuries. Frances Bacon, in the great instauration, says that the correlation between the human mind and the world is more idolized than anything else, and must be improved with the instruments of logic. Moreover, he says that humans tend to accumulate false and hastily abstracted beliefs. For instance, men often acclaim the false power of the mind and get rid of their true powers. He assures that if men focus on their true strength and power of reasoning, they can master nature. If reason is placed on the proper foundations, it can deduce science and human knowledge as well as art. On the other hand, Rene Descartes opens his first meditation with the mediator reflecting on the number of the falsehoods he has found during his life and the ensuing faultiness of the body of knowledge he has built up from their falsehood. The mediator reasons that humans need to find reasons to doubt their opinions for them to seek strong foundations for their knowledge, rather than doubt others of their opinions individually. Both philosophers, in their articles, define deficiencies in the current state of knowledge. For Descartes, humans should have doubts in order to make decisions and/or learn. In the first meditation, the mediator argues that human beings should learn from, or through, their senses because the senses can deceive. Therefore, people should not go by their senses. Even when humans are dreaming and sensing real objects, those senses can still be deceived, and the present sensation can be dream images, proving

More about Descartes' and Bacon's Discussions About Nature and Knowledge of Science

Open Document