Note 63 — NOTES.1

Francis Bacon (1551–1626) was one of the first to revolt against scholasticism and to introduce a new method into science and philosophy. He claimed that to know reality, and consequently to gain new power over reality, man must stop studying conceptions, and study matter itself. Yet he did not himself know how to gain a more accurate knowledge of nature, so that he could not put into practice the method which he himself advocated. His works are full of scholastic conceptions, though many of the implications of his system are materialistic. Lange claims,77 indeed, that if Bacon had been more consistent and daring, he would have reached strictly materialistic conclusions. The account of the motion of the heart of the dead convict is found in “Sylva Sylvarum.”78 This book, published in 1627, a year after Bacon’s death, contains the account of Bacon’s experiments, and of his theories in matters of physiology, physics, chemistry, medicine, and psychology.