Thesis advisor: Robert Faulkner / The following sketch attempts to look at the ways in which Francis Bacon helped to bring about the modern age by presenting a system of skepticism, in the form of his doctrine of idols, which initiated the break away from classical philosophy and Christian theology and made room for a new, secular science. By looking at Bacon’s peculiar and esoteric writing style as well as his detractors’ assessments of him, I show not only what they got wrong about Bacon but also and more importantly that many of their criticisms of Bacon’s role in the history of science and philosophy depend on his very success in brining about a reformation of men’s minds. I show how far-reaching his doctrine of the idols is and how it initiated the trend in modern philosophy to create systems of skepticisms that are based on human reason’s self-criticism. Finally, I show how Bacon’s doctrine of idols led to his refutations not only of philosophical doctrines but of Christian theology as well. / Thesis (MA) — Boston College, 2015. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Political Science.

Thesis (M.A.)--Stony Brook University, 2008. / This official electronic copy is part of the DSpace Stony Brook theses & dissertations collection maintained by the University Libraries, Special Collections & University Archives on behalf of the Stony Brook Graduate School. It is stored in the SUNY Digital Institutional Repository and can be accessed through the website. Presented to the Stony Brook University Graduate School in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in English; as recommended and accepted by the candidate's degree sponsor, the Dept. of English. Includes bibliographical references (p. 32).

Thesis (doctoral)--Facultati Litterarum Parisiensi, 1862. / Reproduction of original from Harvard Law School Library. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. L.)--Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C., 1998. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 71-76).

Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 135-141). Also available online in Scholars' Bank.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1968. / Typescript. Vita. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 192-196).

Inaug.-diss.--Erlangen. / Lebenslauf. "Alphabetisches literaturverzeichnis der hauptsächlich benützten literatur": p. [vii]-x. "Schriften Roger Bacons": p. 19-24.

Akademisk avhandling-Uppsala. / Issued in two parts, 1893-94. "Åberopad literatur": p. [vi].

No description available.

This dissertation explores the social and political thought of Francis Bacon. While Bacon's contribution to the philosophy of science is recognized, his work is seen as having been focused primarily on the reform of the human estate. Bacon's Great Instauration, his programme for the advancement of learning and the restoration of mankind to pre-lapsarian dominion over nature, is examined for the influence of four main Renaissance perspectives: humanism, Christianity, millenarianism and historical optimism. Bacon wedded Renaissance humanism to millenarian-eschatology to provide an alternative to the classically-oriented interpretation of universal history. / Despite the frequent use of millenarian-eschatological metaphors, Bacon's proposed reforms were based on human endeavour, not on divine will. The New Atlantis, Bacon's utopian portrayal of ideal social order, expresses his vision of the advancement of learning and its relation to politics. There the principal problem he confronts is resolving the contradiction between the mutability of all things, human and natural, and the inexorable progress promised by the new learning. Bacon's solution in the New Atlantis is ultimately unsatisfactory for it is based on a radical separation of the active will from the public sphere, and is thus achieved only at the expense of politics.