thumbnail, Title page of 1640 edition
''The Advancement of Learning'' (full title: ''Of the Proficience and Advancement of Learning, Divine and Human'') is a 1605 book by
Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban (; 22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626) was an English philosopher and statesman who served as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England under King James I. Bacon argued for the importance of nat ...
which introduces and popularizes the
scientific method
The scientific method is an Empirical evidence, empirical method for acquiring knowledge that has been referred to while doing science since at least the 17th century. Historically, it was developed through the centuries from the ancient and ...
of observation, skepticism and
testability
Testability is a primary aspect of science and the scientific method. There are two components to testability:
#Falsifiability or defeasibility, which means that counterexamples to the hypothesis are logically possible.
#The practical feasibilit ...
.
Origin
Bacon (a
Protestant
Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...
) lived during a period of great
social turmoil as well as the
expansion of scientific and social knowledge. In 1605 Bacon sent a draft to his friend
Tobie Matthew who was in
Florence
Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025.
Florence ...
where he was baptized as a
Roman Catholic
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
. Two years later, in 1607, Matthew returned to England, where he was imprisoned for his alleged "
Papist views"
The book is addressed as a plea to
King James I and is in two parts or books, each with separate chapters:
* Part I praises the king for his appreciation of knowledge and outlines Bacon's ideas as how strict bondage to the past (notably study of Greek and Roman language and form) was a hindrance to optimizing Christian values, which required not academic excellence but excellent practical education via the contemplation of nature conjoined with action for the benefit of society.
* Part II Bacon outlines ''
Novum Organum
The ''Novum Organum'', fully ''Novum Organum, sive Indicia Vera de Interpretatione Naturae'' ("New organon, or true directions concerning the interpretation of nature") or ''Instaurationis Magnae, Pars II'' ("Part II of The Great Instauratio ...
'' which avers the benefit to scholars as less important than the benefit of their scholarship to society. He advocated a new discipline studying the effect of climate, geography and natural resources on the various human races, and suggested handbooks should be prepared for diplomacy, business and the new scientific disciplines. In theology he suggested exploring the limits of human reason in matters divine and setting limits thereto. He recommended improving medicine via vivisection of animals and the prior preparation of medicine.
Pure knowledge versus proud knowledge
Bacon refutes the claim of
Herod the Great
Herod I or Herod the Great () was a History of the Jews in the Roman Empire, Roman Jewish client king of the Herodian kingdom of Judea. He is known for his colossal building projects throughout Judea. Among these works are the rebuilding of the ...
that knowledge causes anxiety, discontent and rebellion by distinguishing
* pure knowledge arising from the study of
nature
Nature is an inherent character or constitution, particularly of the Ecosphere (planetary), ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the Scientific law, laws, elements and phenomenon, phenomena of the physic ...
that leads to growth and
Grace
Grace may refer to:
Places United States
* Grace, Idaho, a city
* Grace (CTA station), Chicago Transit Authority's Howard Line, Illinois
* Little Goose Creek (Kentucky), location of Grace post office
* Grace, Carroll County, Missouri, an uni ...
* proud knowledge is that of
worldly values that lead to
atheism
Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the Existence of God, existence of Deity, deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the ...
Consequences
This work inspired the
taxonomic structure of the highly influential ''
Encyclopédie
, better known as ''Encyclopédie'' (), was a general encyclopedia published in France between 1751 and 1772, with later supplements, revised editions, and translations. It had many writers, known as the Encyclopédistes. It was edited by Denis ...
'' by
Jean le Rond d'Alembert
Jean-Baptiste le Rond d'Alembert ( ; ; 16 November 1717 – 29 October 1783) was a French mathematician, mechanician, physicist, philosopher, and music theorist. Until 1759 he was, together with Denis Diderot, a co-editor of the ''Encyclopé ...
and
Denis Diderot
Denis Diderot (; ; 5 October 171331 July 1784) was a French philosopher, art critic, and writer, best known for serving as co-founder, chief editor, and contributor to the along with Jean le Rond d'Alembert. He was a prominent figure during th ...
, and is credited by Bacon's biographer-essayist
Catherine Drinker Bowen with being a pioneering essay in support of
empirical philosophy.
The following passage from ''The Advancement of Learning'' was used as the foreword to a popular Cambridge textbook:
[ William Ludlam (1785), ''The Rudiments of Mathematics'', Cambridge.]
External links
Full texton
Internet Archive
The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...
Full texton
Project Gutenberg
Project Gutenberg (PG) is a volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, as well as to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks."
It was founded in 1971 by American writer Michael S. Hart and is the oldest digital li ...
Full text at classic-literature.co.uk
References
Works by Francis Bacon (philosopher)
1605 books
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