Editing Francis Bacon (section)

==Influence and legacy==
===Science===
{{see also|Baconian method|Idola fori}}
[[File:Loc-bacon-highsmith cropped.jpg|thumb|Statue of Bacon in the [[Library of Congress]] in [[Washington, D.C.]]]]
[[File:Frontispiece to 'The History of the Royal-Society of London'.jpg|thumb|upright=1|[[National Portrait Gallery, London|National Portrait Gallery]] painting of the front cover of ''The History of Royal-Society of London'', picturing Bacon (right) among the founding influences of [[Royal Society]]]]
Bacon's seminal work the ''[[Novum Organum]]'' was highly influential in the 17th century among scholars, in particular Sir [[Thomas Browne]], who in his encyclopedia ''[[Pseudodoxia Epidemica]]'' (1646–72) frequently adheres to a Baconian approach to his scientific enquiries. This book entails the basis of the scientific method as a means of observation and induction.  Also [[Robert Hooke]] was highly influenced by Bacon, using Baconian language and ideas in his book, "[[Micrographia]]."

According to Bacon, learning and knowledge all derive from inductive reasoning. Through his belief in experimentally-derived data, he theorised that all the knowledge that was necessary to fully understand a concept could be attained using induction.  "Induction" in this context can be thought of as "reasoning from evidence," as opposed to "deduction," or "top-down reasoning," which can be thought of as "reasoning from a pre-existing premise, or hypothesis." In order to get to the point of an inductive conclusion, one must consider the importance of observing the particulars (specific parts of nature). "Once these particulars have been gathered together, the interpretation of Nature proceeds by sorting them into a formal arrangement so that they may be presented to the understanding."<ref>{{cite journal|last=Turner|first=Henry S.|date=2013|title=Francis Bacon's Common Notion|journal=Journal for Early Modern Cultural Studies|volume=13|issue=3|pages=7–32|doi=10.1353/jem.2013.0023|s2cid=153693271|issn=1553-3786}}</ref> Experimentation is essential to discovering the truths of Nature. When an experiment happens, the data is used to form a result and conclusion. Note that this process does not involve a pre-existing hypothesis. On the contrary, inductive reasoning starts with data, not a prior premise or hypothesis. Through this conclusion of particulars, an understanding of Nature can be formed. Now that an understanding of Nature has been arrived at, an inductive conclusion can be drawn. "There are and can be only two ways of searching into and discovering truth. The one flies from the senses and particulars to the most general axioms, and from these principles, the truth of which it takes for settled and immovable, proceeds to judgment and to the discovery of middle axioms. And this way is now in fashion. The other derives axioms from the senses and particulars, rising by a gradual and unbroken ascent, so that it arrives at the most general axioms last of all. This is the true way, but as yet untried." (Bacon's axiom XIX from the Novum Organum) <ref>{{Cite book|last=Bacon|first=Francis|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/17510|title=Novum Organum|editor-last=Devey|editor-first=Joseph|date=1902|publisher=Collier|location=New York|doi=10.5962/bhl.title.17510}}</ref>

Bacon explains how we come to this understanding and knowledge because of this process in comprehending the complexities of nature. "Bacon sees nature as an extremely subtle complexity, which affords all the energy of the natural philosopher to disclose her secrets."<ref>{{cite journal|last=Brooks|first=Christopher|date=1993|title=Daniel R. Coquillette. Francis Bacon. Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press. 1992. pp. x, 358.|journal=Albion|volume=25|issue=3|pages=484–485|doi=10.2307/4050890|issn=0095-1390|jstor=4050890}}</ref> Bacon described the evidence and proof revealed through taking a specific example from nature and expanding that example into a general, substantial claim of nature. Once we understand the particulars in nature, we can learn more about it and become surer of things occurring in nature, gaining knowledge and obtaining new information all the while. "It is nothing less than a revival of Bacon's supremely confident belief that inductive methods can provide us with ultimate and infallible answers concerning the laws and nature of the universe."<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Nisbet|first=H. B.|date=1967|title=Herder and Francis Bacon|journal=The Modern Language Review|volume=62|issue=2|pages=267–283|doi=10.2307/3723840|issn=0026-7937|jstor=3723840}}</ref> Bacon states that when we come to understand parts of nature, we can eventually understand nature better as a whole because of induction. Because of this, Bacon concludes that all learning and knowledge must be drawn from inductive reasoning.

During the [[English Restoration|Restoration]], Bacon was commonly invoked as a guiding spirit of the [[Royal Society]] founded under Charles II in 1660.<ref>{{cite book |first=Julian |last=Martin |title=Francis Bacon: The State and the Reform of Natural Philosophy |year=1992 |place=Cambridge|publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-38249-6 }}{{Page needed|date=January 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |first=Byron |last=Steel |title=Sir Francis Bacon: The First Modern Mind |place=Garden City, NY |publisher=Doubleday, Doran & Co |year=1930 }}</ref> During the 18th-century [[French Enlightenment]], Bacon's non-metaphysical approach to science became more influential than the dualism of his French contemporary [[René Descartes|Descartes]], and was associated with criticism of the ''[[Ancien Régime]]''. In 1733 [[Voltaire]] introduced him to a French audience as the "father" of the [[scientific method]], an understanding which had become widespread by the 1750s.<ref>Hundert, EJ. (1987), "Enlightenment and the decay of common sense." In: Frits van Holthoon & David R. Olson (Eds.), ''Common Sense: The Foundations for Social Science'' (pp. 133–154 [136]). Lanham, MD: University Press of America. </ref> In the 19th century his emphasis on [[Induction (philosophy)|induction]] was revived and developed by [[William Whewell]], among others. He has been reputed as the "Father of Experimental Philosophy".<ref>{{cite book |first=Peter |last=Urbach |title=Francis Bacon's Philosophy of Science: An Account and a Reappraisal |publisher=Open Court Publishing Co |place=La Salle, Ill. |year=1987 |isbn=978-0-912050-44-7 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/francisbaconsphi0000urba }} p. 192. "Bacon's celebrity as a philosopher of science has sunk since the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, when he earned the title of 'Father of Experimental Philosophy{{' "}}.</ref>

He also wrote a long treatise on Medicine, ''History of Life and Death'',<ref>{{cite book |last=Bacon |first=Francis |title=History of Life and Death |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dW5lJ9-LeBAC |isbn=978-0-7661-6272-3 |year=2003 |publisher=Kessinger }}{{Dead link|date=October 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> with natural and experimental observations for the prolongation of life.

One of his biographers, the historian [[William Hepworth Dixon]], states: "Bacon's influence in the modern world is so great that every man who rides in a train, sends a telegram, follows a [[steam plough]], sits in an easy chair, crosses the channel or the Atlantic, eats a good dinner, enjoys a beautiful garden, or undergoes a painless surgical operation, owes him something."<ref>{{cite book |last=Hepworth Dixon |first=William |title=The story of Lord Bacon's Life |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zd05AAAAcAAJ&pg=PP1|year=1862}}</ref>

In 1902 [[Hugo von Hofmannsthal]] published a fictional letter, known as ''[[The Lord Chandos Letter]]'', addressed to Bacon and dated 1603, about a writer who is experiencing a crisis of language.

===North America===
[[File:Lord Bacon - the guiding spirit of colonization scheme.jpg|thumb|upright=1|A [[Newfoundland and Labrador|Newfoundland]] stamp, which reads: "Lord Bacon – the guiding spirit in colonization scheme"]]
Bacon played a leading role in establishing the [[British colonies in North America]], especially in [[Virginia]], [[the Carolinas]] and [[Newfoundland and Labrador|Newfoundland]] in northeastern Canada. His government report on "The Virginia Colony" was submitted in 1609. In 1610 Bacon and his associates received a charter from the king to form ''the Tresurer and the Companye of Adventurers and planter of the Cittye of London and Bristoll for the Collonye or plantacon in Newfoundland'', and sent [[John Guy (governor)|John Guy]] to found a colony there.<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.heritage.nf.ca/law/lab4/labvol4_1701.html |year=1701 |volume=4 |place=NF, [[Canada|CA]] |publisher=Heritage |title=Lab |type=law |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131021163440/http://www.heritage.nf.ca/law/lab4/labvol4_1701.html |archive-date=21 October 2013 }}</ref> [[Thomas Jefferson]], the third President of the United States, wrote: "Bacon, [[John Locke|Locke]] and [[Isaac Newton|Newton]]. I consider them as the three greatest men that have ever lived, without any exception, and as having laid the foundation of those superstructures which have been raised in the [[Physical science|Physical]] and [[Moral science]]s".<ref>{{cite journal |publisher=RUG |quote=Bacon, Locke and Newton, whose pictures I will trouble you to have copied for me: and as I consider them as the three greatest men that have ever lived, without any exception, and as having laid the foundation of those superstructures which have been raised in the Physical & Moral sciences |place=Netherlands |title=The Letters of Thomas Jefferson: 1743–1826 |author=Bacon, Locke, and Newton |url=http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/presidents/thomas-jefferson/letters-of-thomas-jefferson/jefl74.php |access-date=13 June 2009 }}</ref>

In 1910, Newfoundland issued a postage stamp to commemorate Bacon's role in establishing the colony. The stamp describes Bacon as "the guiding spirit in Colonization Schemes in 1610".<ref name="Dodd-Life-Story" /> Moreover, some scholars believe he was largely responsible for the drafting, in 1609 and 1612, of two charters of government for the Virginia Colony.<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.fbrt.org.uk/pages/essays/essay-fb-life.html |type=essay |title=FB life |publisher=FBRT |place=UK |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120131131208/http://www.fbrt.org.uk/pages/essays/essay-fb-life.html |archive-date=31 January 2012 }}</ref> William Hepworth Dixon considered that Bacon's name could be included in the list of Founders of the United States.<ref>{{cite book |last=Hepworth Dixon |first=William |title=Personal History of Lord Bacon from Unpublished Papers |page=200 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BE4dalMQX-cC&pg=PA200 |isbn=978-0-7661-2798-2 |year= 2003 |publisher=Kessinger }}</ref>

===Law===
Although few of his proposals for law reform were adopted during his lifetime, Bacon's legal legacy was considered by the magazine ''[[New Scientist]]'' in 1961 as having influenced the drafting of the [[Napoleonic Code]] as well as the law reforms introduced by 19th-century British Prime Minister [[Sir Robert Peel]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Crowther |first=J. G. |title=Article about Francis Bacon |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ODBtWGjxXH8C&pg=PA146 |work=New Scientist |date=19 January 1961 }}{{Dead link|date=November 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> The historian [[William Hepworth Dixon]] referred to the Napoleonic Code as "the sole embodiment of Bacon's thought", saying that Bacon's legal work "has had more success abroad than it has found at home", and that in France "it has blossomed and come into fruit".<ref>{{cite book |last=Hepworth Dixon |first=William |title=Personal history of Lord Bacon: From unpublished papers |publisher=J. Murray |year=1861 |page=[https://archive.org/details/personalhistory00dixogoog/page/n57 35] |url=https://archive.org/details/personalhistory00dixogoog}}</ref>

[[Harvey Wheeler]] attributed to Bacon, in ''Francis Bacon's Verulamium{{snd}}the Common Law Template of The Modern in English Science and Culture'', the creation of these distinguishing features of the modern [[common law]] system:
* using cases as repositories of evidence about the "unwritten law";
* determining the relevance of precedents by exclusionary principles of evidence and logic;
* treating opposing legal briefs as adversarial hypotheses about the application of the "unwritten law" to a new set of facts.

As late as the 18th century, some juries still declared the law rather than the facts, but already before the end of the 17th century [[Sir Matthew Hale]] explained modern common law adjudication procedure and acknowledged Bacon as the inventor of the process of discovering unwritten laws from the evidences of their applications. The method combined empiricism and inductivism in a new way that was to imprint its signature on many of the distinctive features of modern [[English society]].<ref>Wheeler, Harvey. ''Francis Bacon's 'Verulamium': the Common Law Template of The Modern in English Science and Culture''</ref> [[Paul H. Kocher]] writes that Bacon is considered by some jurists to be the father of modern [[Jurisprudence]].<ref name="Jurisprudence">{{cite journal |last=Kocher |first=Paul |author-link=Paul H. Kocher |year=1957 |title=Francis Bacon and the Science of Jurisprudence |journal=Journal of the History of Ideas |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |location=Philadelphia|volume=8 |issue=1 |pages=3–26 |doi=10.2307/2707577 |jstor=2707577  |issn = 0022-5037}}</ref>

Bacon is commemorated with a statue in [[Gray's Inn]], South Square in London where he received his legal training, and where he was elected Treasurer of the Inn in 1608.<ref>[https://www.graysinn.org.uk/history/timeline/sir-francis-bacon "Sir Francis Bacon"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160402172004/https://www.graysinn.org.uk/history/timeline/sir-francis-bacon |date=2 April 2016 }}. GraysInn.org. Retrieved 21 August 2015</ref>

More recent scholarship on Bacon's jurisprudence has focused on his advocating torture as a legal recourse for the crown.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Hanson |first=Elizabeth |title=Torture and Truth in Renaissance England |journal=Representations |date=Spring 1991 |volume=34 |pages=53–84 |doi=10.1525/rep.1991.34.1.99p0046u |doi-broken-date=1 November 2024 }}</ref> Bacon himself was not a stranger to the torture chamber; in his various legal capacities in both Elizabeth I's and James I's reigns, Bacon was listed as a commissioner on five torture warrants. In 1613(?), in a letter addressed to King James I on the question of torture's place within English law, Bacon identifies the scope of torture as a means to further the investigation of threats to the state: "In the cases of treasons, torture is used for discovery, and not for evidence."<ref>{{cite book |last=Langbein |first=John H. |title=Torture and the Law of Proof |year=1976 |publisher=The University of Chicago Press |page=90 }}</ref> For Bacon, torture was not a punitive measure, an intended form of state repression, but instead offered a modus operandi for the government agent tasked with uncovering acts of treason.

===Organization of knowledge===
{{more citations needed section|date=November 2023}}
Francis Bacon developed the idea that a classification of knowledge must be universal while handling all possible resources. In his progressive view, humanity would be better if access to educational resources were provided to the public, hence the need to organise it. His approach to learning reshaped the Western view of knowledge theory from an individual to a social interest.

The original classification proposed by Bacon organised all types of knowledge into three general groups: history, poetry, and philosophy. He did that based on his understanding of how information is processed: memory, imagination, and reason, respectively.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Simpson |first1=David |title=Francis Bacon (1561–1626) |url=https://iep.utm.edu/francis-bacon/ |website=Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy |access-date=22 December 2023 |quote=Bacon outlines his scheme for a new division of human knowledge into three primary categories: History, Poesy, and Philosophy (which he associates respectively with the three fundamental “faculties” of mind – memory, imagination, and reason).}}</ref> His methodical approach to the categorization of knowledge goes hand-in-hand with his principles of scientific methods. Bacon's writings were the starting point for [[William Torrey Harris]]'s [[Library classification system|classification system for libraries]] in the United States by the second half of the 1800s.

The phrase "{{lang|la|scientia potentia est}}" (or "{{lang|la|scientia est potentia}}"), meaning "[[knowledge is power]]", is commonly attributed to Bacon: the expression "{{lang|la|ipsa scientia potestas est}}" ("knowledge itself is power") occurs in his ''Meditationes Sacrae'' (1597).{{sfn|Josephson-Storm|2017|pp=46–47}}