Chapter 11 Section 10

100 But we must seek and possess not only a greater number of experiments, but a different kind of experiment than hitherto carried out; we must also advocate an entirely different method, order, and and process.For experience, when it goes its own way, is, as I said before, a groping in the dark, sufficient only to confuse and not to teach.But once it can keep in regular order according to definite laws, and proceed unimpeded along the way, many better things in knowledge are to be expected. one hundred one But even if the natural-historical and empirical mass of material required for the work of the understanding or philosophy were at hand, the understanding would not be adequate to deal with them without being equipped with mere memory, as One cannot hope to keep and master calculations of astronomical almanacs by the power of memory.But the work of invention has so far been more thinking than writing, and experience has not yet learned the words.And we know that the process of invention cannot be completed unless it is kept going by written records.Once written records are widely adopted and experience becomes literate, better things can be hoped for.

one hundred two Besides, what is peculiar is an army of immense numbers, and that army is so scattered that it distracts and confuses our understanding, so that if we rely only on small engagements, small attacks, and attacks of the intellect, we Some intermittent exercise, that's not much hope.To have any hope, it must be lined up by those applicable, well-arranged, and, so to speak, animated "discovery lists" that line up everything that is special about the subject of inquiry, and make the Our hearts are set in motion by the various supplementary materials provided by those Discovery Sheets, duly sorted and organized.

103① We should not pass at once to the inquiry and discovery of new particulars or new deeds, even when particular materials are before us in a proper order; or, if we do, at any rate Should stop there.Though I do not deny that, once all the experiments of all alchemy are assembled, compiled, and crammed into the knowledge and judgment of one and the same man, then, by the experience which I have called "literate and written" above, It is only necessary to transfer the experiments of one alchemy to others, and many new things will be discovered which are of great help to the life and condition of mankind--though I do not deny this, it is still impossible to expect anything great from here. only from the new light of principles which, once drawn under an exact method and law from those particulars, in turn point the way to new particulars— — to expect greater things.Our path is not a flat line, but one with ups and downs, first up to principle, then down to merit. ①This article and the next article fully show how Bacon combined deduction and induction, not only induction but no deduction; it fully shows that he does not want the most general principles, but only needs the kind of starting from special things, The non-abstract most general axioms finally arrived at by true induction, through the proper ascending ladder, which in turn point the way to something new and particular. ——Translator 104①

But we do not allow our understanding to jump and fly from special things to some distant principles that are close to the highest generality (such as alchemy and the so-called first principles of things), and regard them as unshakable truths And based on them, then use them as a basis to prove and form the middle-level principles.This has always been the way in the past, and the understanding is led in this way not only by a natural impulse, but also by the use of syllogisms which are accustomed and experienced in this way.But we should really follow a legitimate upward ladder, without interrupting, without waiting, step by step, from special things to lower principles, and then to intermediate principles, one by one, and finally rise to the most general principle. principle; thus, and only thus, can we have good hopes for science.Because the lowest principle is almost the same as pure experience, the highest and most general principle (referring to what we have now) is conceptual, ②abstract, and has no solidity.

Only middle-level axioms are real, solid, and dynamic. People's affairs and futures depend on them, and only from them can they be the most universal principles in the end. This is no longer true. That kind of abstract, but the most general principle that is effectively restricted by those intermediate principles. ① See Volume 1, 19 and 22. - translator ②The Latin is notionalia, and the English translation is notional.Kachin pointed out that this is a term favored by the cumbersome school of thought, but here it simply means "to live in the concepts of the human mind, not in the real things."

So, let the understanding not be given wings, but be fastened with weights, lest it leap and fly.This has never been done; and once it is done, we can hope better for science. 105① In establishing axioms we must devise a different form of induction than hitherto employed, not only to prove and discover some so-called first principles, but also to prove and discover lower ones, The principle of the intermediate level is actually the principle of everything.Induction by simple enumeration is naive, its conclusions are unstable, and there is great danger of being attacked from contrary examples; its assertions are generally based on too few facts, and are Based on the fact that it is only close at hand.For the inductive method of discovering and proving that scientific alchemy can really be used, it is necessary to analyze nature with the legitimate method of exclusion and exclusion, with a sufficient number of negative examples, and then draw conclusions based on positive examples.

This approach has never been practiced or attempted to be attempted by anyone except Plato, who indeed applied this form of induction to a certain extent in discussing definitions and ideas.But in order to furnish this induction or argument well and adequately to facilitate its work, we should prepare a great many things which have hitherto not been thought of, and we must therefore compare them heretofore with Make greater effort in the syllogism.We do not apply this method of induction only to the discovery of principles, but also to the formation of concepts.It is this induction which is our chief hope. ① Bacon stated his true induction method here. Please refer to Articles 17, 46, 69, 70, and 88 of Volume 1 in order to understand it from the comparison between ordinary induction and it. - translator

②The Latin is demonstratio, and the English translation is demonstration.Kachin points out: Bacon here misuses the term to denote the opposite, as used by previous writers of logic, the term "argument" is strictly reserved for deductive methods, since Bacon denies deductive reasoning at all. Law is a systematic approach to truth, so the word "argument" is used in its modern sense, which is synonymous with "rigorous evidence." - translator ③ This is another one of several passages, which is enough to show that Bacon has no intention of claiming to be the originator of induction.

one hundred six In establishing a principle by such an induction, we must also examine and check whether the principle thus established corresponds only to the particulars on which it is based, or whether it is wider and broader in scope.If it is larger and wider, we still have to consider whether it can prove that enlargement and relaxation by pointing out to us something new and special as a security attached.In this way, we are neither clinging to the known, nor clinging loosely to empty shadows and abstract forms instead of solid and materially embodied things. Once this process is put into practice, we will finally see a ray of solid hope.

one hundred and seven Here, we should also recall the point mentioned earlier, that is, to push the boundaries of natural philosophy to include specific sciences, and to ascribe or bring specific sciences back to natural philosophy; The branches and leaves of knowledge are not torn and severed from its roots.Without this, the hope of progress will not be very good. ①①See volume 74 and 792. - translator one hundred and eight The above is only to relieve despair and raise hope in terms of eradicating or correcting the mistakes of the past.Let us now see what other paths are grounds for hope.

Here, the idea immediately arises: Since many useful discoveries have been made by mere chance and chance when people were not looking for useful discoveries but were busy with other things, then, if Men who devote themselves to their pursuit, and make it their profession, do it methodically and in order, not in intermittent impulses, and of course no one can doubt that they will make far more discoveries.Although once or twice people come across the desired thing by accident, on the whole the opposite is undoubtedly the case.It can be seen from this that to obtain far better and more things with shorter intervals should be expected from people's reason and effort, from people's well-directed and single-mindedness, and not from their Chance, animal instinct, and the like—and the inventions of the past have had their roots in these. one hundred and nine Another argument for hope may be drawn from the fact that some known inventions were difficult to get into anyone's mind and conceived before they were discovered; they were always shelved as impossible.Because when people conceive what will appear, they always put the things that have appeared in front of them as appearances; when they predict new things, they always come up with imaginations that have been occupied and stained by old things before.This method of forming opinions is very fallacious, because the currents that flow from the fountain of nature are not bound forever in old channels. For example, before the invention of the cannon, if someone described it in terms of its effects, saying that there was a new invention that could shake and even destroy the strongest towers and city walls from a long distance; Crossbows and other machinery, by all means, imagine their power to be doubled by striking and firing weights, wheels, and similar machines; and as for a blast of fire, which would blow out violently and violently, and explode It is difficult for this idea to enter anyone's imagination or fancy; for no one has ever seen anything directly resembling it except earthquakes and lightning, which are works of nature and marvels, It cannot be simulated, so the idea was simply rejected by people. Similarly, before the invention of silk, if someone said that there was a kind of thread invented, which can be used for clothing and furnishing. It is much finer, stronger, more beautiful and soft than hemp and wool; It must first directly think of some kind of silky plant, the finer hair of some kind of animal, or the quills and wool of some birds; as for the cocoon made by a small insect, this small insect There are so many, and they are reborn once a year, which is undoubtedly something they have never thought about.Even if someone spoke of a worm, people would laugh at it, thinking he was dreaming of a new kind of spider's web. To give another example, before the discovery of the lodestone, if someone said that a certain tool had been invented that could be used to accurately observe and identify the position and direction of celestial bodies; to conceive, to think of more elaborate constructions of astronomical instruments; and as to discovering a thing whose motions correspond to those of a celestial body but which is not itself a celestial body, but merely a metallic or stony substance, they must judged to be totally unbelievable.These three things, and things like them, have been hidden for many years since the world began, and were finally discovered not by the art of philosophy and reason, but by accident and chance; because, As I said before, they are of such a different kind from anything previously known, so remote, that no preconceived notion could have led to their discovery. Thus we have ample grounds for hoping that in the womb of nature there are still hidden in the womb many extremely useful secrets, neither near nor comparable to anything now known, but entirely in the imagination of men. Outside the familiar path, it has not been discovered so far.Doubtless, in the course and operation of the years to come, these secrets will sooner or later reveal themselves, like everything else that has appeared; Simultaneously bring them out and promote them in advance. 110 There are still discoveries of another class yet to be pointed out, which prove that many noble inventions may be right under our feet, and that men walk by without seeing them.Although in the discovery of gunpowder, silk, lodestone, sugar, paper, and the like, it seems to depend on certain properties of things themselves and of nature, there is in any case nothing in the art of printing that is not obvious. something.But here, because people haven't seen it: typesetting is more difficult than handwriting, but there is a difference between the two, that is, there are countless printed copies for one typesetting, but only one copy for handwriting; or because people haven't seen it. To: the ink can be so thick that it can be printed without running (especially when the font is printed upside down and upside down);—I said that it is only because people have not seen these things that all these long years have passed, without making this most wonderful invention, which greatly aids in the spread of knowledge. In the progress of such an invention, the human mind has such a wretched and inconvenient disposition, at first to distrust itself, and then to despise itself: at first not to believe that any such thing could be discovered, and having After discovering it, I can't understand why the world has been lost with it for so long.It is this fact itself which may well be taken as another argument for hope; that is to say, there is still a great deal left which can be invented, not only by means of those which are yet to be discovered, but by means of what has been said above, "Experiences written in literature" to carry, compare and apply those existing practices, and also to deduce them and reveal them.