FRANCIS BACON

As a philosopher he stressed the empirical method of science for arriving at reliable knowledge. The emphasis he placed upon observation and experimentation gave induction a higher role in the reasoning processes than deduction, which ruled human thinking from classical times on. He is most famous for his "idols" or those tendencies which lead man's mind astray of the truth. These idols illustrate the undesirability of placing complete reliance upon assumptions and principles which have not been verified by observation and experimentation. Subsequent philosophers found it necessary to meet this problem in the presentation of their system of thought. The following is a list of Bacon's "idols:"
 

1. IDOLS OF THE TRIBE. These tendencies toward intellectual error derive from the nature of humanity in general:

a. Common Sense. The tendency to rely upon limited assumptions without verifying them as established truths.
b. Beliefs. Man has a tendency to support his personal beliefs.
C. Wishful Thinking. Wishful thinking is the tendency to believe what one wishes to believe.
d. Overgeneralization. The tendency to jump to conclusions on the basis of first impressions.
e. Ultimate Causes. The tendency to describe the cause of a thing without verifying this assumed cause.   2. IDOLS OF THE CAVE. These tendencies toward intellectual error derive from the nature of the individual man. a. Insularity. The tendency to overemphasize the area of knowledge or the subject with which one is familiar.
b. Conservatism. The tendency to admire and prefer the past.
c. Novelty The opposite of Conservatism is Novelty, the tendency to admire and prefer anything new.
d. Authority. Authority is often based on the tendency to accept authoritative propositions without critically evaluating the proposition.
e. Inertia. The tendency to bypass intellectually difficult problems.
  3. IDOLS OF THE MARKET PLACE. These tendencies towards intellectual error derive from the act of human communication. a. Meaningless Words. The tendency to create words which are so general that they become meaningless to others.
b. Double-Meaning Words. The tendency not to clarify the specific meaning in which a word is employed.
c. Personal Definitions. The tendency to employ words whose meanings are entirely personal.
d. Verbalisms. The tendency to attribute significance to insignificant words or phrases.
e. Jargon. The tendency to accept large words which transcend one's understanding.   4. IDOLS OF THE THEATER. These tendencies towards intellectual error derive from the things one has learned in the past. a. Experimentation. The tendency which derives from the dogmatism and rigidity in one's learning that leads toward the acceptance of propositions that are not verifiable by the senses.
b. Superstition. The tendency to interpret all of reality in terms of religious authoritative beliefs. EDUCATIONAL IMPORTANCE. Bacon is important to education because:

1. SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY. He stressed the importance of relying upon the method of science for establishing principles of action, rather than upon an undue reverence for the writings of the past. Today the social science of education proposes principles of education upon the basis of the experimental methods alone. While the educationist reveres the memory of the great thinkers of the past and accepts many of their statements as hypotheses for future investigation, he is not chained to any one favored theory.

2. AWARE OF ERROR. The idols demonstrate the ease with which one may reason fallaciously. Teachers today are aware of these tendencies. As a result they develop the thinking skills of their students.
 
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