Description
Book SynopsisFrancis Bacon (1561-1626), commonly regarded as one of the founders of the Scientific Revolution, exerted a powerful influence on the intellectual development of the modern world. He also led a remarkably varied and dramatic life as a philosopher, writer, lawyer, courtier, and statesman. Although there has been much recent scholarship on individual aspects of Bacon''s career, Perez Zagorin''s is the first work in many years to present a comprehensive account of the entire sweep of his thought and its enduring influence. Combining keen scholarly and psychological insights, Zagorin reveals Bacon as a man of genius, deep paradoxes, and pronounced flaws.
The book begins by sketching Bacon''s complex personality and troubled public career. Zagorin shows that, despite his idealistic philosophy and rare intellectual gifts, Bacon''s political life was marked by continual careerism in his efforts to achieve advancement. He follows Bacon''s rise at court and describes his removal
Trade Review
One of Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles for 1998 "A concise but detailed analysis of [Bacon's] whole range of thought... This penetrating account of Bacon's work can be recommended as the best single-volume study available."--Brian Vickers, The Times Literary Supplement "[Francis Bacon] will be useful to scholars for its ability to organize and explain a large and sometimes unwieldy topic ... and, because of its lucidity and clear-sightedness, it will be of interest to the general reader."--Charles Davis, Boston Book Review "A sensitive and sympathetic analysis... There is always a suspicion, when one reads such a fine-lettered stylist as Bacon, that the prose is glittering with too many nice turns and rhetorical tricks. Zagorin's homage shows the substance to be reassuringly there behind it all."--Nigel Spivey, Financial Times "Zagorin ... brings a lifetime of learning, as well as personal enthusiasm, to his presentation of Bacon's intellectual accomplishments. This is a book not just to taste, but to chew and digest."--Washington Post "[An] excellent new biography."--Roger Kimball, The Wall Street Journal "Eminently readable, expansive in scope, and scintillating... [A] thoroughly researched, authoritative account."--Choice
Table of Contents
PrefaceReferences and AbbreviationsCh. 1Introduction: Bacon's Two Lives3Ch. 2Philosophy and the Reconstruction of Knowledge: The Genesis of Bacon's Project25Ch. 3The Great Instauration74Ch. 4Human Philosophy: Morals and Politics129Ch. 5Language, Law, and History175Ch. 6Conclusion221Notes229Index281
