Francis Bacon Biography

Francis Bacon (22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626) – 22 January 1561. Noble, Lawyer, Politician, Writer and Philosopher of British origin, recognized as one of the fathers of Empiricism.

He is also the historical subject of the Baconian Theory, which hints that Francis Bacon may have been the true author of the plays attributed to William Shakespeare, thesis that is based on certain coincidences, and which is widely debated by critics Literary.

However, Bacon’s philosophical work influenced the conception and development of the scientific method, meaning a great contribution to Philosophy and Science, which is why he is considered one of the most important philosophers in history.

Early life

Francis Bacon was born on 22 January 1561, in Stand, London, the youngest son of Sir Nicholas Bacon and his wife Ann Cook Bacon. His father was a Knight of the court of Elizabeth I, who had been appointed as guardian of the Great Seal, while his mother was considered one of the most enlightened women in the court.

Bacon is believed to have received his early years of homeschooling through tutors, due to the delicate health that would accompany him all his life. At the age of thirteen, in 1573, Bacon moved with his older brother, Anthony Bacon, to Cambridge, where they entered Trinity College.

It was around this time that the first sketches of his philosophical theory began to be gestated, when after studying the various sciences he concluded that both the methods and the results were wrong. He also began his opposition to Aristotelian philosophy, considering that it lacked a purpose and a method.

In 1576 he left the university. On June 27 of that same year, he and his brother made their way into de Societate Magistrorum. They were subsequently transferred to France to serve as attached to the Embassy of England, which was under the command of Amyas Paulet.

Political career

Three years later, in 1579, Bacon returned to England due to the death of his father.In the absence of an inheritance that allowed him to survive, Bacon is forced to begin to pursue a career in law.

Taking advantage of his academic preparation and his father’s former relationships, he tried to secure political office within the court, however Bacon was not in good esteem with Queen Elizabeth I, which cut his political path until 1613 with the assumption of James I of England to the throne. In 1613, Bacon was appointed by King James I as Attorney General. Five years later, in 1618, he was appointed Chancellor of England.

Francis Bacon built a solid political career, which allowed him to take power quotas. In 1621 he was endowed with the title of Viscount St Albans. However, that same year, his luck changed when he was accused of corruption, for accepting bribes, as well as ill-treatment of his subordinates.

Bacon pleaded guilty, which is why he was apprehended. Soon the King forgave him, but Bacon would not return to life as a public official, on the contrary he would take advantage of the fortune raised during his years of service in order to retire and devote himself to his philosophical studies.

Baconian Philosophy

Bacon was a great critic of Aristotelian philosophy, accusing this former thinker of classical Greece of making great mistakes that in turn led to the generations after them to have the same flaws.

Bacon believed that the Aristotelian method lacked a practical purpose, and on the contrary had only discursive purposes, allowing his followers to develop capacity for debate, but not knowledge that served as a utilitarian benefit.

Likewise, this British philosopher claimed that Aristotelian Logic served only to reaffirm previously known knowledge, and not to produce new knowledge.

In this sense, Bacon aimed to establish a method of scientific study that would allow the researcher to dispense with any previous ideas and devote himself to the detailed observation of the object itself, which would allow to annotate and keep track of the findings prioritising deductive reasoning over the inductive for the first time.

For this philosopher scientists had to then approach the object to study, in this case the nature or some of its elements, from skepticism, and assume the philosophy of not accepting any explanation that could not be verified through observation and experience, laying the foundations of Empiricism with this.

Other contributions and final years

Similarly, Francis Bacon made great contributions in literature, creating the genre of Essay in the English language, being one of the heirs of the pen of the French essayist Charles Montaigne.

In the mid-19th century some researchers promulgated the Baconian Theory, whose thesis was intended to show that Bacon was the royal author of the works of William Shakespeare. In light of this hypothesis, scholars would link certain parallels between Shakespeare’s and Bacon’s plays, as well as his personal book.

However, most specialists do not support this theory, stating that there are marked literary and stylistic differences between authors.

His work is classified in the philosophical, political and literary categories, his main writings Being Essays Sobe Moral and Politics, published in the year 1597; The advancement of knowledge, in 1605 and Novum Organum in 1620. He finally died of pneumonia, in the town of Highate, in the British state of Middlesex, on 9 April 1626 at the age of sixty-five.

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