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bloggingprof 2b's List: Bacon "Idols of the Mind" Information

  • Francis Bacon [Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy]

    j. The Idols

    In Book I of the New Organon (Aphorisms 39-68), Bacon introduces his famous doctrine of the “idols.” These are characteristic errors, natural tendencies, or defects that beset the mind and prevent it from achieving a full and accurate understanding of nature. Bacon points out that recognizing and counteracting the idols is as important to the study of nature as the recognition and refutation of bad arguments is to logic. Incidentally, he uses the word “idol” – from the Greek eidolon (“image” or “phantom”) – not in the sense of a false god or heathen deity but rather in the sense employed in Epicurean physics. Thus a Baconian idol is a potential deception or source of misunderstanding, especially one that clouds or confuses our knowledge of external reality.

    Bacon identifies four different classes of idol. Each arises from a different source, and each presents its own special hazards and difficulties.

    # 1. The Idols of the Tribe. These are the natural weaknesses and tendencies common to human nature. Because they are innate, they cannot be completely eliminated, but only recognized and compensated for. Some of Bacon’s examples are:
    # Our senses – which are inherently dull and easily deceivable. (Which is why Bacon prescribes instruments and strict investigative methods to correct them.)
    # Our tendency to discern (or even impose) more order in phenomena than is actually there. As Bacon points out, we are apt to find similitude where there is actually singularity, regularity where there is actually randomness, etc.
    # Our tendency towards “wishful thinking.” According to Bacon, we have a natural inclination to accept, believe, and even prove what we would prefer to be true.
    # Our tendency to rush to conclusions and make premature judgments (instead of gradually and painstakingly accumulating evidence).

    # 2. The Idols of the Cave. Unlike the idols of the tribe, which are common to all human beings, those of the cave vary from individual to individual. They arise, that is to say

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    Bacon Idols on 2008-11-24 and saved by 6 people

    • j. The Idols






      In Book I of the New Organon (Aphorisms 39-68), Bacon introduces
      his famous doctrine of the “idols.” These are characteristic errors, natural
      tendencies, or defects that beset the mind and prevent it from achieving
      a full and accurate understanding of nature. Bacon points out that recognizing
      and counteracting the idols is as important to the study of nature as the
      recognition and refutation of bad arguments is to logic. Incidentally, he
      uses the word “idol” – from the Greek eidolon (“image” or “phantom”)
      – not in the sense of a false god or heathen deity but rather in the sense
      employed in Epicurean physics. Thus a Baconian idol is a potential
      deception or source of misunderstanding, especially one that clouds or confuses
      our knowledge of external reality.

      • Our senses – which are inherently dull and easily deceivable. (Which
        is why Bacon prescribes instruments and strict investigative methods to correct
        them.)
      • Our tendency to discern (or even impose) more order in
        phenomena than is actually there. As Bacon points out, we are apt to find
        similitude where there is actually singularity, regularity where there is
        actually randomness, etc.
      • Our tendency towards “wishful thinking.” According to Bacon,
        we have a natural inclination to accept, believe, and even prove what we
        would prefer to be true.
      • Our tendency to rush to conclusions and make premature
        judgments (instead of gradually and painstakingly accumulating evidence).
    • 3 more annotations...

  • The Internet Classics Archive | Theaetetus by Plato

    classics.mit.edu/...theatu.html - Preview

    Plato on 2008-11-24 and saved by 3 people

    • man is the measure of
      all things;
    • Man is the measure of all things,"

  • Francis Bacon (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)

    • 3.1.1 Idols of the Tribe





      The Idols of the Tribe have their origin in the production of false
      concepts due to human nature, because the structure of human
      understanding is like a crooked mirror, which causes distorted
      reflections (of things in the external world).



      3.1.2 Idols of the Cave





      The Idols of the Cave consist of conceptions or doctrines which are
      dear to the individual who cherishes them, without possessing any
      evidence of their truth. These idols are due to the preconditioned
      system of every individual, comprising education, custom, or accidental
      or contingent experiences.



      3.1.3 Idols of the market place





      These idols are based on false conceptions which are derived from
      public human communication. They enter our minds quietly by a
      combination of words and names, so that it comes to pass that not only
      does reason govern words, but words react on our understanding.



      3.1.4 Idols of the Theatre





      According to the insight that the world is a stage, the Idols of the
      Theatre are prejudices stemming from received or traditional
      philosophical systems. These systems resemble plays in so far as they
      render fictional worlds, which were never exposed to an experimental
      check or to a test by experience. The idols of the theatre thus have
      their origin in dogmatic philosophy or in wrong laws of
      demonstration.





      Bacon ends his presentation of the idols in Novum Organum,
      Book I , Aphorism LXVIII, with the remark that men should abjure and
      renounce the qualities of idols, “and the understanding [must be]
      thoroughly freed and cleansed” (Bacon, IV [1901], 69). He
      discusses the idols together with the problem of information gained
      through the senses, which must be corrected by the use of experiments
      (Bacon, IV [1901], 27).

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