Among many other intellectual facets, Francis Bacon is remembered primarily as a promoter of the inductive method, proceed away from the traditional Aristotelian and redirect the knowledge of his time to the scientific nature of reality. His most important is "Novum Organum " and contains a logic that understands the rules of the new method, one that interprets nature (constructive logic), and a critical section (destructive logic) whose pages contains the theory of the "Idols" (idola ), which is discussed here today.
Idols are as prejudices or errors that people make when interpreting nature and that it is free if you want to achieve broader understanding of it, concise and accurate. These "false notions" generate a wrong perspective of what exists, hampering the understanding of natural laws and burdening our ultimate vision of reality. Idols block or alter the understanding of what happens around us, but fortunately no possibility of getting rid of them. This requires knowing where to appear, in what contexts and situations of our daily lives. Once done, you will need to supplant the concepts and axioms own Baconian inductive method, but in any case, although not reaching the latter point, what is in essence is to empty our mind of all feature of knowledge, bias or errors a priori.
Bacon argues that there are four different kinds of idols
- Idols of the tribe, which are connected to the same human nature and our understanding of the world. Are due to our intellect imagines a series of parallels, connections, similarities and correspondences not actually exist (or only in the minds of people ...). Intellect is responsible for relating facts and concepts, then a concatenation legitimate warning from them, for the sole reason that he is, to him, reasonable or compelling. For example, the belief that all planetary motion should be circular and perfect is an idol of the tribe because it is believed, only by the mere fact that we preferred this particular geometry, not by the evidence, substituting "superstitions the supreme truths of nature, the light of experience, pride and vainglory "in the words of Bacon.
- The Idols of the Cave are those of the individual man. Each of us lives in his own cave, a cave where light is refracted nature and altered. Our notion of reality is altered and shaped " either own unique nature of each, or education and dealings with others, or by reading books and the authority of those who grow and admire each . "Almost every man builds his own idols particular cave, so that its diversity is immense
- The Idols of Forum (or Trade, Market or ) " arising from the agreement and the association of the human race each other ." Men, designate often mistakenly particular meanings to certain terms or expressions of language. There are words that have meaning and yet not denote any reality, while others some real things are defined or used improperly confused. Such idols are those that Bacon regarded as more dangerous, cause verbal dispute and that "insinuate to the intellect through the agreement of words, but it also happens that the words are twisted and reflect their strength of intellect, which becomes sophistical philosophy and science. "
- Finally, the Idols of the Theater are those penetraton in the intellect of man from " of the various dogmas of philosophies and also from the evil laws demonstrations." All previous philosophy is, for Bacon, " composed and performed a fable in which were forged fictitious and theatrical worlds ". Also, something similar can be said, according to Bacon," many principles and axioms of sciences, which were imposed by tradition, credulity and negligence . "Bacon said that the only authority they have such schools, theories or scientific or philosophical axioms is that they are building a large product verbal talent, but its content is hardly enlightening to discover the natural laws. Bacon classified into three groups to Idols of the Theatre: sophistical (based on false arguments, such as Aristotle), empirical (based on erroneous generalizations, such as the alquismistas) and superstitious (which are based on the reverence and respect for mere authority, as Platonism and Pythagoreanism).
[These four types of idols Max Scheler added a fifth, the Idols of Internal Knowledge that produce those who argue that all perception of oneself (no external knowledge, like its predecessors) is correct and accurate with reality, reflecting the human being as it is in truth.]
Once we remove the idols, whatever they are, our mind will be able to acquire a genuine knowledge, knowledge based on the laws of nature and that without any a priori background, we can finally access and reach an understanding and develop a description of the world and its workings as it actually is.
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