Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1853-1862, 1860-12-25


revolution in France hare stamped on the two
nations characteristic traits and national modes OF
thought, which viii probably be as permanent as
the existence of the nations themselves For intel
lect never works with such energy as when some |
superincumbent pressure has recently been remoV- |
ed which had previously cramped and paralysed
its energies and it is the active intellect Of nation
which inpresses upon it its distinctive national
character 1t necessary result of this, that the
books produced at such periods are those which
attain permanent position in the national htera-
ture Accordingly we find that BACON is still the
great representative Of the philosophy of England
SrnKsPElRE of its imaginative literature, sPENsER
and SIDNEY of its lyric poetry and the multiplicity
of EARRING religious sects in England land America
too) may still be classed on one side or the other
in that great controversy of the Ecclesiastical
against the Puritan idea which in the days OF ELIZA
BETH had their respective champions in HooPER ana
JEWEL H-
So in France the polished epigramnlatic point the
audacious scepticisn, the rapid and sometimes pre-
mature generalization. the eager and somewhat
sensuous imagination which were the characteristic
features of VoLrAiRE and ROUSSEAU, of D'ALENBERF
and DrDERor. and their brother Encyclopedias are
every day reproduced in the countless publications.
of the Partisan press of the present day, and NJ
MroHE1ET atows half boastully, half complaningly,
that Paris in 1859, still thinks and writes in the
spirit Of 1898.
It is no wonder then ts:at the books of the Eliza
betban era and ofthe French Revolution are con-
stantly reproduced. Our attention has just been
drawn to very beautiful reprint of the works of
BACON which is now in the course of publication
from the enterprisiDg publishing house of Meszrs.
BRowY & TAGGARD. We avail ourselves of the oc-
casion TO say few words about BACON and his phi
losophy.
To what purpose a reader wiz say, who is going
TO read BACON nowadays? 1t is true he did good
deal of good in clearing the way to make room
for the philosophy of the nineteenth century-he
philosophy Of facts but his work is done now and we
| are busy with the results. .r.r.
1t is because we believe that BACoNs work is not
done vet that his principles of reasoning every
day ignored to our detrment and thatwhat called
the philosophy offacts, is through ignorance of the
principles of induction leading us into often
as into TRUTH that the present article is written, in
the hope of inducing few of those who have the
1 name of BACON and the inductive philosophy con-
stanty on their tongues end, to inform themselves
what the PAcoSIAN philosophy really was
We shall net attemptto give this information in
the present paper it is our wish to lead our readers
to acquire it in the works OF BACON himself, and we
shall content ourselves with showing rather what the
BAcovIAN philosophy is not, with correcting two
very erroneous impressions which prevail as to
what the inductive philosophy teaches.
The truth is that a great numver of literateurs
talk very knowingly of BACON and induction and the
noU1tm organ,un, whose only knowledge of the sub
iect is denied from MACAULAYs article in the Eding
burgh Reris,0 an article which spite of the authors
great reputation, has in estimation been chiefly
instrumental in inducing people to talk about the
philosophy of BACON, without the slightest concep
ton what it really is. The two prevalent errors
which we mainly desire to speak of are as follows
First it is assumed as the distinctive characters
tic of the BACoNIAN philosophy that it is philosophy
of facts which isue so far this, thateyerything
in it is based uTon facts ascertained by observation
and experiment But after all. this is apOor defini
ton of the inductive philosophy and is equally true
of ali systems Of philosophy. But starting with this
most inadequate conception Of the subject the MAC
AULY BACoSIsrs form for themselves some such a
theory as this that previously to the time of Bacon
the method of ARISTOTLE was in vogue which
consisted in reasoning sy.logsticaly from certain
assumed first principles and determining from
these what the nature OF things ought to be- rather
| than ascertainng by observation and experiment
what il was but that the BACONIAN method started
| with the observed facts and determined the laws
of nature from the record Of a vast number OF such
observations this being the leading principle Of the
| inductive philosophy. most injurious and made
innate conception Of the whole subeC, and most I'M
lust 10 both ARISTOTLE and BACON. Of all scientific
| men, ARISTOTLE is the last who should have been
| cbarred with disregard of facts To students Of
| his works. the accumulated stores Of information
boarded ND in them are still matter ofwondcr and
admiration. especially when they bear in mind the
dificultes besetting the accumulation and diffusion
of knowledge, compared with the facilities of the
nresent day. He spent a whole life in the accumu-
iation Of facts which teen and overflow, in his
rious works in every form. The manners and Gus
toms of all nations, their religious notions, their
morals and institutions the Characteristic forms,
the habits and lives Of plants and animals
! comprising all that was then known in zoolo-
! gv botany and philosophy, the properties Of space
and matter as set forth in mathematics, mechanics,
astronomy. and such attempts at chemistry as were
then possible. Al these systematically studied and
faithfully recorded render the works of ARISTOTLE
complete encyclopedia of the knowledge accessi-
bic to Grecian philosophers OF the Macedonian era,
and instead of marking dIsregardful of facts,
give US a picture Of mind freighted to repletion
with facts and only not overloaded with them be-
cause its faculty of organizing and systematizing
knowledge was equal to its stupendous capacity for
accumulation. And it was not so much against the
teaching of ARISTOTLE himself that science revOlted
at the close of the middle ages, against the authOr
ty Of the schools which taught in the of ARIs-
/ rorTE. a method Of research which he himself
would never have sanctioned. These schools, in
stead of going to nature herself, as ARISTOTLE had
done before them, to learn of her, assumed some
aphorsms of their master the basis of all knowl-
edge, and subjected all doctrines in philosophy and
science to their one criterion of conformity with
these they assumed the penary inspiration of ARIs-
| ToUE, so to say and reasoned from this as their
starting point instead Of seeking inspiration from
the same source as that which directed the studies
of their master himself, the assiduous study of ma
ture, that is to say. and enlightened reasoning upon
the facts observed.
This revolt against the Aristotelian schools had
! indeed commenced long before the time of BACON
but before his time had produced no fruit
| because it had occupied itself with pulling
down what it found, but had succeeded in
building up nothing. What Bacon himself did
to Establish in the place of it a method Of ques-
tioning nature to show how the first generalization
offacts might be brought to scrutiny by confronting
these with further facts bearing upon the same
! questions, aud how when Nature by the enforce
ment of such interrogation had answered one
! question, those very answers should be made to
suggest further questions and become fruitful in
the Indictment to further research.
This is the true meaning Of fruit when researches
represented as productive of it in the works of
| BACON, and valued for that quality not. as tile
readers of MACAUIAY are led to suppose that direct
practical availability in the arts and commerce
which modern utitarians consider the test of value
in all scientific effort and thinking So suppose them
selves TO be BACoNIANs As this is the second great
error which we desire to combat and the space we
can give 10 the present paper is too short for its
REPUTATION, we will conclude with quotation from
BACON himself which shows that he looked upoD
this very utiitaranism of the great obstacles
10 the progress of science care o,otD,r from, tho