Bacon, Essex, and Discipline
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.26754/ojs_misc/mj.199611046Abstract
Francis Bacon (1561-1626) was the first English philosopher to envision and theorize a thorough reform of the institutions of learning according to a utilitarian design. During the years 1592-1601, Bacon served as secretary to the second Lord of Essex, Robert Devereux, to whom he also acted as ghost writer and mentor. In this paper I compare the disciplinary strategies that Bacon devises for, respectively, the statesman and the scientist. This comparison was prompted by Bacon's use of the phrases "blessed physician" and "waking censor" to characterize his relationship to Essex, and of "the human medicine of the Mind" to characterize the preliminary preparation of the scientist's psyche.
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Copyright (c) 1996 José María Rodríguez García
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