“Strange Fire at the Altar of the Lord”: Francis Bacon on Human Nature

Abstract

Francis Bacon's pronouncement that “Man is the Center of the World,” the final cause of all nature, seems to unleash us from all guidance and restraint, providing no grounds for judging any human action to be better or worse than any other. The political implications of such a position—combined with Bacon's efforts to advance technological power—are enormous. There would be little support for natural rights or any other kind of “right” except what is based on force. This famous promoter of scientific power, however, was neither oblivious to the danger, nor politically irresponsible, in his assessment of man's position in the cosmos, and his counsel seems closer to classical political philosophy than is normally acknowledged. This essay provides an examination of and detailed commentary on Bacon's argument, as presented in “Prometheus, or the State of Man.” It reveals that Bacon expects us to deal with the problem in terms of properly ranking humans themselves, discarding the notion that all humans are equal. In light of such a ranking we may come to recognize natural standards for evaluating humans and their actions.