Virtual exhibition

"Knowledge is power, power is knowledge"

to the 455th anniversary of the birth of Francis Bacon

The Library and Information Complex (LIC) presents a virtual exhibition dedicated to the 455th anniversary of the birth of Francis Bacon.

Francis Bacon (January 22, 1561 - April 9, 1626) - English philosopher, historian, political figure, founder of empiricism.

In 1584 he was elected to parliament. From 1617 Lord Privy Seal, then Lord Chancellor; Baron of Verulam and Viscount of St. Albans. In 1621 he was put on trial on charges of bribery, convicted and removed from all positions. He was later pardoned by the king, but did not return to public service And last years devoted his life to scientific and literary work.

Francis Bacon began his professional life as a lawyer, but later became widely known as a lawyer-philosopher and defender of the scientific revolution. His works are the foundation and popularization of inductive methodology scientific research, often called Bacon's method.

Bacon outlined his approach to the problems of science in the treatise “New Organon”, published in 1620. In this treatise, he declared the goal of science to be increasing man's power over nature. Induction gains knowledge from the world around us through experiment, observation, and testing hypotheses. In the context of their time, such methods were used by alchemists.

Scientific knowledge

In general, Bacon considered the great dignity of science almost self-evident and expressed this in his famous aphorism “Knowledge is power.” However, many attacks have been made on science. After analyzing them, Bacon came to the conclusion that God did not prohibit the knowledge of nature, as, for example, theologians claim. On the contrary, He gave man a mind that thirsts for knowledge of the Universe.

People just need to understand that there are two types of knowledge: 1) knowledge of good and evil, 2) knowledge of things created by God. The knowledge of good and evil is forbidden to people. God gives it to them through the Bible. And man, on the contrary, must cognize created things with the help of his mind. This means that science must take its rightful place in the “kingdom of man.” The purpose of science is to increase the strength and power of people, to provide them with a rich and dignified life.

Method of cognition

Pointing to the deplorable state of science, Bacon said that until now discoveries had been made by chance, not methodically. There would be many more of them if researchers were armed with the right method. Method is the path, the main means of research. Even a lame man walking along the road will overtake normal person running off-road. Research method developed by Francis Bacon - an early predecessor scientific method. The method was proposed in Bacon's Novum Organum (New Organon) and was intended to replace the methods that were proposed in Aristotle's Organum almost 2 millennia ago.

At the core scientific knowledge According to Bacon, induction and experiment must lie. Induction can be complete (perfect) or incomplete. Complete induction means the regular repetition and exhaustibility of any property of an object in the experience under consideration. Inductive generalizations start from the assumption that this will be the case in all similar cases. In this garden, all lilacs are white - a conclusion from annual observations during their flowering period. Incomplete induction includes generalizations made on the basis of studying not all cases, but only some (conclusion by analogy), because, as a rule, the number of all cases is practically unlimited, and it is theoretically possible to prove them infinite number impossible: all swans are reliably white for us until we see a black individual. This conclusion is always probable.

Trying to create a “true induction,” Bacon looked not only for facts that confirmed a certain conclusion, but also for facts that refuted it. He thus armed natural science with two means of investigation: enumeration and exclusion. Moreover, it is the exceptions that matter most.

Using his method, Bacon, for example, established that the “form” of heat is the movement of the smallest particles of the body. So, in his theory of knowledge, Bacon strictly pursued the idea that true knowledge follows from experience. This philosophical position is called empiricism. Bacon was not only its founder, but also the most consistent empiricist.

Obstacles on the path of knowledge

Francis Bacon divided the sources of human errors that stand in the way of knowledge into four groups, which he called “ghosts” (“idols”, Latin idola). These are “ghosts of the family”, “ghosts of the cave”, “ghosts of the square” and “ghosts of the theater”. “Ghosts of the race” stem from human nature itself; they do not depend either on culture or on a person’s individuality.

“The human mind is like an uneven mirror, which, mixing its nature with the nature of things, reflects things in a distorted and disfigured form.” “Ghosts of the Cave” are individual errors of perception, both congenital and acquired. “After all, in addition to the errors inherent in the human race, everyone has their own special cave, which weakens and distorts the light of nature.”

"Ghosts of the Square" - a consequence social nature person - communication and the use of language in communication. “People unite through speech. Words are set according to the understanding of the crowd. Therefore, a bad and absurd statement of words besieges the mind in a surprising way.”

“Phantoms of the theater” are false ideas about the structure of reality that a person acquires from other people. “At the same time, we mean here not only general philosophical teachings, but also numerous principles and axioms of the sciences, which received force as a result of tradition, faith and carelessness.”

Followers of Francis Bacon

The most significant followers of the empirical line in modern philosophy: Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, George Berkeley, David Hume - in England; Etienne Condillac, Claude Helvetius, Paul Holbach, Denis Diderot - in France.

In his books “Experiments” (1597), “New Organon” (1620), Bacon acted as an apologist for experienced, experimental knowledge serving the conquest of nature and the improvement of man. Developing a classification of sciences, he proceeded from the position that religion and science form independent areas. This deistic view is also characteristic of Bacon’s approach to the soul. Distinguishing between the divinely inspired and bodily souls, he endows them with different properties (sensation, movement - for the bodily soul, thinking, will - for the divinely inspired one), believing that the ideal, divinely inspired soul is the object of theology, while the object of science is the properties of the bodily soul and problems , arising from their research.

Arguing that the basis of all knowledge lies in human experience, Bacon warned against hasty conclusions drawn from sensory data. Bacon called errors of knowledge associated with the mental organization of man idols, and his “doctrine of idols” is one of the most important parts of his methodology. If, in order to obtain reliable data based on sensory experience, it is necessary to verify the data of sensations by experiment, then to confirm and verify conclusions it is necessary to use the method of induction developed by Bacon.

Correct induction, careful generalization and comparison of facts that support the conclusion with those that refute them, makes it possible to avoid the errors inherent in reason. Principles of research into mental life and approach to the subject psychological research, laid down by Bacon, were further developed in the psychology of modern times.

Life path and works of F. Bacon

Dushin A.V. The idea of ​​education in the empirical philosophy of Francis Bacon // Problems and prospects for the development of education in Russia. - 2013. - No. 18.

Kondratyev S.V. Natural philosophical and political arguments in the unionist discourse of Francis Bacon / Kondratiev S.V., Kondratieva T.N. //Bulletin of Tyumen State University.-2014.-No. 10.

Poletukhin Yu.A. Materialistic justification of law in the concept of Francis Bacon // Bulletin of the South Ural State University. Series: Law.-2006.-No. 5.

Smagin Yu.E. Knowledge as power in the philosophy of F. Bacon // Bulletin of the Leningrad State University. A.S. Pushkin.-2012.-T.2, No. 1.

The second philosophy assignment you need to complete is to write an essay on one of ten topics. I chose Bacon's saying, “Knowledge is power.” I wrote for a day with breaks for food and other human needs 😉 This is what happened...

Francis Bacon: “Knowledge is power”

"There is no strength without skill"
Napoleon Bonaparte

One of important issues, which any of us has encountered in life - the question of gaining knowledge.

I agree with the statement of the famous English philosopher Francis Bacon, in which he says that knowledge is power. Indeed, knowledge helps people rationally organize their activities and solve various problems that arise in the process.

First of all, on our own we are helpless. At birth, a Man knows nothing and cannot do anything. He cannot protect himself from various irritants external factors and troubles. Throughout his life, he receives everyday practical knowledge - a force that he uses in his everyday life to solve problems almost unconsciously.

Secondly, knowledge is not wisdom, wisdom is not intelligence. Having read many books, scientific works, philosophical treatises, you will know more, but you will not become wiser, because wisdom is characterized by the degree of mastery of knowledge, and not by its quantity. Popular wisdom says: “The less you know, the better you sleep, the longer you will live.” Do you need such a force that will deprive you of sleep and a carefree old age, which you may not live to see?

Thirdly, our knowledge and the knowledge of our predecessors can be used against us, perhaps even accidentally. For example, the creation of a large hadron collider. Scientists expect to be able to study microscopic black holes, but cannot say what will happen if the research process gets out of control. Perhaps the Earth will be swallowed up black hole and humanity will cease to exist.

Finding ourselves on an island in the open ocean, only knowledge will save us. Knowledge is a power that can kill, or vice versa, save.

Questions related to the acquisition of knowledge and its application will accompany any Person until his death. Is it worth acquiring knowledge? How to use knowledge so as not to harm? Is it possible to live without this power? The words of the great Russian writer Leo Tolstoy are appropriate: “There is a lot of necessary and important knowledge. But the most important thing is how to live."

Plato and Bacon: a dispute through the centuries. The greatest paradox of the phenomenon of knowledge is that, being ideal in its nature, in its essence, in our time it has turned into a powerful material force, the economic force of society. Indeed, knowledge is an ideal product. They are not directly perceptible to the senses; they cannot be touched, seen, or heard, but they can be possessed. And to those who own them, they give power, not only intellectual, but also material. The conclusion seems obvious. Humanity comprehended this seemingly simple truth very difficult and time consuming.
During the period of formation of capitalist relations in Europe, the famous English philosopher Francis Bacon, who lived at the turn of the 16th-17th centuries, proclaimed: “Knowledge is power.” For us now, such a statement is something very familiar and, as it were, taken for granted. In our country, the all-Union youth magazine “Knowledge is Power” has been published for several decades.
However, when this formula was proclaimed, it became a fundamentally new word in the very understanding of the goals of knowledge, the tasks of science, the essence of human knowledge and its role in society. It was an innovative, revolutionary vision. We can confidently say that Bacon’s predecessors simply could not understand how knowledge, invisible, inaudible, can become “power”? By whose power?

The fact is that ancient thinkers looked at knowledge and its role in society completely differently. Knowledge, for example, for the largest ancient Greek philosopher Plato is primarily the result of contemplation outside world, discussions and conversations on high topics, one of the manifestations of a person’s wisdom, an element of his spiritual, inner perfection.
Plato, for example, did not raise the question at all about the tasks of transforming nature on the basis of its knowledge, nor did he raise the question about facilitating people’s work and improving their lives through knowledge and transformation of nature. He connected knowledge with a person’s abilities for a correct, purposeful, moral life. Knowledge is, first of all, the source of wisdom and high morality both for an individual person (of course, a free person, not a slave), and for an entire state.
And Francis Bacon, an English philosopher, proclaims that “man is the servant and interpreter of nature. He can do and know as much as he has comprehended in its order by deed or reflection, and beyond this he does not know and cannot.” And further: “Knowledge and human power coincide.” The true task of the sciences “cannot be other than to endow human life with new discoveries and benefits.” But, he added bitterly, “the vast majority of people in science don’t understand anything about this. This majority are only teachers and doctrinaires, and only sometimes it happens that a master with a sharper mind, desiring glory, rushes to some new discovery. He does this almost at a loss to his property.”
Notice how modern Bacon's words sound. But they were first published in 1620, that is, almost 370 years ago. Bacon called for new thinking for his time, substantiated the deepest reform of the sciences, human knowledge, which

the swarm should be built not on speculative deductions or on divine revelation, but on the basis of an experimental study of real things and processes, on the basis of experiment.
Knowledge, science and technology are designed to empower human life new discoveries and benefits, to ease and improve the situation of people, and the truth -
this is the daughter of time, not authority - such was his credo. Bacon's ideas became one of the greatest intellectual achievements of mankind.
Knowledge is important and valuable not only and not so much in itself. And first of all, because it can and should be embodied, transformed into material force. It must serve man in all his practical activities, primarily in transforming nature - this is the philosophical, spiritual premise of the material-transformative practice of people, which became dominant in Europe, and then in other parts of the world, actually starting with Bacon.
Invisible, inaudible, intangible knowledge, it turned out, can be turned into a powerful material force. Knowledge of the laws of mechanics can be used in the creation of various types of machines, ranging from a steam boiler, steam locomotive, steamship to the most modern machines and machine tools. Knowledge of the laws of electricity can be used in the creation of a mass of material objects and things that facilitate human work, giving him more comfortable living conditions - electric light, electric motors, all kinds of devices both in everyday life and in production* Knowledge of chemical laws has even made it possible to create materials that are not found in nature in natural form, materials with predetermined, desired properties - all kinds of plastics, etc.
In short, the entire development of science, technology, and industry in subsequent centuries served as an excellent illustration of this Baconian idea that knowledge can and should be transformed into material power.
The embodied power of knowledge. However, the most comprehensive, deep and consistent production
The powerful power of knowledge was revealed by K. Marx, F. Engels and V. I. Lenin. First of all, the views of K. Marx are very indicative in this regard.
Summarizing the experience of the industrial revolution in Europe at the end of the 18th century - early XIX century and predicting further trends in scientific, technical and economic development, K. Marx formulated the idea that knowledge in a developing industrial society becomes a productive force. Bacon's formula that knowledge is power was more ideological, general philosophical in nature. Marx poses the question primarily as an economist, examining the main factors of the capitalist production process. K. Marx wrote: “Nature builds neither machines, nor locomotives, nor railways, no electric telegraph, no self-acting factors, etc. All these are products of human labor, natural material, transformed into organs of human will dominating nature, or human activity in nature. All this is the organs of the human brain created by a human hand, the embodied power of knowledge.” And he goes on to point out that the development of these products of human labor “is an indicator of the extent to which general social knowledge (Wissen, Knowledge) has become a direct productive force...”
First of all, note that Marx chooses surprisingly capacious, precise and at the same time non-standard expressions. At first, his idea seems obvious. Cars, roads, electricity, and now we would add a lot more to this list - cars, various machine tools, automatic machines, aviation, etc. - all these are creations of human hands. They are, as it were, a multiplication of a person’s physical strength, an extension of his arms, legs, and his entire body. A lot of
multiply his production capabilities, the productive power of his labor. All this is very understandable and familiar.
However, Marx does not stop there and expresses whole line unusual, innovative thoughts. He says that the products of human labor are the embodied power of human knowledge. How should this be understood?
But the whole point is that the products of human labor are not just things, objects, or anything material in general. This is at the same time knowledge, as if frozen, if you like, solidified knowledge. They embodied, materialized the energy of knowledge, the power of knowledge. Knowledge, embodied in machines, in technology, becomes a material productive force. It is embodied in this technique, “works” in it. And not only knowledge in the literal sense of the word, but also a person’s practical skills, his will, even his temperament. It is no coincidence that Marx emphasizes that the products of human labor turn into organs of human will.
How much human knowledge and will (and not just physical effort, physical labor) is concentrated in any machine - from a steam locomotive to an airliner and space rocket! And the more of them are embodied in technology, in technology, the more developed the productive forces of society become, the higher technical level production, its efficiency. It is not difficult to see that in modern automatic factory lines more knowledge is embodied than in Watt's steam boiler and the machines driven by it, in a modern ocean liner - more than in a sailing ship, in an airliner - more than in hot-air balloon, etc.
One of the most important features of the modern scientific and technological revolution is that

that technique and technology increasingly depend on the amount of knowledge available in society and on the efficiency of its materialization, the speed of its transfer from the head of the worker into the product of labor.
There is another side to which Marx also draws attention. Knowledge is embodied in everything that a person creates through his labor. But first of all
it is embodied in the person himself. And no matter how it materializes in the products of labor, it is inseparable from man as from its fundamental principle. Here we see one of the brightest manifestations of that remarkable property of any knowledge, which we have already talked about: a person can give his knowledge to other people as much as he likes or materialize it in the products of his labor, but at the same time the stock of his knowledge is in no way depleted. And maybe in some cases it even increases somewhat: by transferring knowledge to other people, a person becomes more aware of it, understands it better. It is not for nothing that scientists often say that The best way To master any scientific discipline is to teach it to students.
We should especially think about what Marx means when he says that general social knowledge is transformed into a direct productive force. What does general public knowledge mean?
It is obvious that Marx does not understand knowledge about society by this expression. Social knowledge in this case is the knowledge that is socially necessary to create this or that object, machine, thing, etc. The productive power of labor depends in general on the level of competence, consciousness, will of the performer, and production experience of the worker. And this applies to all professions, to all specialties - to the worker and rural worker, peasant, engineer and builder, manager and scientist, etc. Not only scientific knowledge has productive power, but also practical knowledge, the whole sum of practical skills and abilities. , which are used by the employee in the labor process.
K. Marx’s thoughts on the transformation of universal social knowledge, including science, into a direct productive force constituted an entire era
in understanding the role of science and technology in progress modern society. They were supported and further developed by F. Engels and especially V.I. Lenin. Based on their fundamental principles, the policy of the CPSU is being built in the field of scientific and technological progress, transferring the entire national economy to the rails of intensification, accelerating the socio-economic development of the country.
Science as a productive force. Once upon a time, the great French thinker Saint-Simon said: for France, the loss of fifty of its best physicists, mathematicians, mechanics and engineers - the flower of science - would mean remaining a body without a soul.
Although Saint-Simon was a utopian socialist, these words are extremely realistic. Let's fast forward to our time and imagine for a moment what would happen to us, our country, if we did not have, for example, I. V. Kurchatov, S. P. Korolev, M. V. Keldysh, P. JI . Kapitsa, N. N. Semenov, N. I. Vavilov, V. I. Vernadsky, I. P. Pavlov, N. E. Zhukovsky, K. E. Tsiolkovsky.
I named only the names of the ten largest Soviet scientists who, with their scientific works, with their discoveries, their ascetic, heroic work, they contributed to the transformation of our Motherland into a great industrial, scientific and technical power, which very highly raised the level of spirituality of the entire people. What would happen if we didn't have them? You will say - there would be others. Of course, if we consider the issue from the point of view of historical necessity, then there is no doubt that there would be others.
But if you nevertheless imagine, at least for a few moments, that we did not have these scientists and that we could not have acquired the knowledge that they had in any other way, then it is not difficult to see
how much poorer our country would be. We would have neither theoretical nor practical astronautics, aircraft construction, nuclear industry, there were not many important sections in chemical industry. We would have a much worse understanding of geological and biological processes. We would not know what conditioned and unconditioned reflexes are in humans and throughout the animal world. In other words, we would be poorer both economically and technically, and in terms of the volume of knowledge, and in the sense of the absence of great personalities who presented the whole world with examples of serving the truth and the people.
This thought experiment is, of course, completely arbitrary. You cannot remove from history what happened. However, this assumption clearly shows great value science, scientific knowledge in the life of modern society, in the life of each of us.
The most important thing, perhaps, is that the process of development of production - both industry and industry - depends on scientific knowledge, on its constant, systematic growth. Agriculture, and construction. Science in our time is increasingly revealing itself as a direct productive force of society. Scientific and technological progress is now the main means of increasing production efficiency.
The transformation of science into a direct productive force as a real process has its own history. Its beginning is usually associated with industrial revolution XVIII - early XIX centuries, when large-scale machine production began to develop at a rapid pace. Its essence was the transfer of human physical and labor functions to machines. The very manufacture of machines (for example, weaving, drilling, milling machines), the organization of the production process with the help of machines require the application of science. All this
caused the formation of applied branches of natural science, directly serving the needs of production - the formation of technical sciences. Technical schools and colleges are also emerging in which relevant research is carried out and personnel are trained.
From about the middle of the 20th century, with the development of the modern scientific and technological revolution, the use of scientific knowledge in production has become regular, science is paving new paths for technical and economic progress. Almost all new industries are the result of the implementation of scientific ideas, scientific knowledge - radio industry, automotive industry, aircraft manufacturing, electronics, manufacturing artificial materials etc. So science became a direct participant in the production process. Production itself is increasingly becoming a consistent technological application of science. This applies to all modern developed countries of the world.
Perestroika creates particularly favorable conditions for the development of science and its transformation into a direct productive force. The XXVII Congress of the CPSU, subsequent decisions of the CPSU Central Committee and the Soviet government set the task of transferring the economy, the entire national economy of the country, to the path of intensive development.
This means that more final products should be obtained with less input of raw materials, human labor and time. In other words, produce more (products, goods, etc.), and make less various costs.
In principle, such intensification is possible and necessary in every branch of industry, agriculture, and every enterprise. But it is possible only when every production

the process will be based on scientific basis and constantly absorb the latest scientific achievements. It is possible to obtain 8-10 centners of wheat from 1 hectare, probably, without any science. But to get 30 or more centners is impossible to achieve without the use of scientific knowledge.
This is how the decisive chain of the modern intensive economy develops: science - technology - production. It means that scientific ideas (knowledge) are transformed into technological developments, and these latter are introduced into mass production. Such a chain is easy to observe throughout the modern national economy, in all sectors of the economy. Moreover, the more clearly defined the links in the chain are and the more firmly they are connected to each other, the more developed the production is, the more modern and efficient it is.
It is obvious to everyone that if some link in the chain works poorly or the connection between links is weak, then the entire chain functions poorly. But still, the practice of our country and other developed
countries shows that the leading link in the chain needs to be identified. And that is what science is. It is she who generates new knowledge and ideas, gives impetus to create new technological solutions, new principles of production. Continuous renewal of ideas leads to systematic updating of technology and further to an increase in the production of goods, things, machines, and an increase in labor productivity.
If you carefully observe the nature of the activities of our advanced research and production associations, you will find the following. Other than that normal conditions for them, the scientific background, the bank of knowledge, the bank of new ideas that could be recommended for implementation in technological developments with subsequent introduction into mass production. The constant formulation of new ideas becomes the real fundamental basis for the stable work of scientific and production associations, an indispensable condition maintaining their products high level. And this suggests a conclusion: highly qualified specialists who are capable of generating new, non-standard, non-trivial ideas, ideas that can be embodied in new technology, should be highly valued!

Probably each of us has heard the phrase “Knowledge is power” more than once. Who said these words? In connection with what was such a phrase uttered? And why is knowledge power? Let's talk about this further.

What is knowledge?

So today we'll talk about famous saying"Knowledge is power". Who said this phrase? When were the words that became known to everyone first spoken? We will answer all these questions later. Now let’s try to figure out what knowledge is.

IN in a broad sense this concept is interpreted as a set of norms and ideas acquired by a person. In essence, knowledge is the result of the cognitive activity of an individual or group of individuals.

In a narrow sense, this concept means the possession of certain information, which allows one to solve assigned problems.

Knowledge is not limited solely to science. It can be extra-scientific, or everyday-practical.

Who said?

So, the author of the saying “Knowledge is power” - The name of this man is known all over the world. Francis Bacon is a famous English politician. He was born in 1561 in London. Graduated from Cambridge University. When he was only 23 years old, he was elected to the House of Commons of the English Parliament. Under James I, he became Keeper of the Royal Seal (a position also held by his father).

In 1605, the first part of Francis Bacon's treatise, The Great Restoration of the Sciences, was published. The main theme of the philosopher’s work was the idea of ​​the limitlessness of human development progress.

Francis Bacon is considered the father of empiricism - a philosophical movement that recognizes sensory experience as the main one. He defended positions radically opposed to Aristotle and the medieval scholastics.

The main tenets of Francis Bacon's philosophy can be reduced to the following theses:

• God did not prohibit human knowledge of things.
• The correct method is the key to successful research.
• Scientific knowledge is based on induction (i.e., when generalizing, it is necessary to adhere to rules known to everyone) and experiment (a method of studying a certain subject under controlled conditions).
• There are 4 human errors that hinder cognition. These are the so-called ghosts: “genus” (come from the very essence of man), “caves” ( individual characteristics perception of the world), “horses” (arise as a result of communication), “theater” (transmitted from one person to another).
• Francis Bacon not only looked for provisions that would confirm a thesis, but also for facts that refuted it.

So, we looked at the origin of the phraseological unit “Knowledge is power” (who said it). Now let's try to find out original meaning famous phrase.

The meaning of phraseology

By saying that “knowledge is power,” the author expressed one of the main provisions of the new thinking. It was Francis Bacon who revised the understanding of the relationship between man and nature, already established in philosophy. He argued that people are the subject of knowledge. At the same time, nature in his philosophy is the object of study.

Francis Bacon saw knowledge as a powerful impetus for progress in social relations. He was the founder of the scientific method of cognition. He divided research into practical and theoretical, and also developed the principles of the so-called new logic.