From: Valence (valence10@hotmail.com)
Date: Sat Jun 28 2003 - 05:31:00 BST
Hey Pi,
PI
> When I said that one liner, I was thinking in the terms that Bacon was
probably thinking in. Bacon was talking about the interpretation,
objectivity and subjectivity. I accept that my statement seems like an
overstatement from the point of view of your examples.
>
> Bacon was trying to say that one should interpret objectively and not
subjectively.
RICK
Maybe. The only way to be sure of what Bacon meant would be to find the
source of the quote and put it back into context (which I have little desire
to do). But I read it differently than you. I think Bacon was talking on a
practical, socio-political level (which I think is evidenced by the
reference to Machiavelli as opposed to say a scientist or natural
philosopher). Machiavelli himself was no Machiavellian. He was a firm
supporter of republican forms of government who lived in a time when Italy
really couldn't possibly be any further from republican. When he wrote his
famous work "the Prince" (which was published posthumously... Mach himself
didn't seem to excited about getting that one to the people) he wasn't
saying that that's how he thought rulers should behave (ie. he wasn't
writing about the kind of government he preferred), rather, he was just
saying that that's sometimes how rulers do behave (ie. he was writing about
the kind of government he actually saw). I think Bacon knew this and I
think he was speaking on this practical level and not making a grandiose
statement about metaphysical interpretation, objectivity and subjectivity.
But hey, I could be wrong.
take care
rick
Philosophy, like medicine, has plenty of drugs, few good remedies, and
hardly any specific cures. - Sebastien-Roch Nicolas De Chamfort -
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