Wednesday Wisdom

WHO?

Sir Francis Bacon (1561-1626) was an English philosopher, statesman, and writer. He is considered one of the founders of modern science and is best known for his promotion of the scientific method. He also made significant contributions to logic, metaphysics, and law. Bacon is also known for his famous essays and his role in his time's political and legal systems.

Sir Francis Bacon is considered one of the founders of empiricism, a philosophical perspective that emphasizes the role of observation and experience in acquiring knowledge. Bacon argued that knowledge should be based on observation and experimentation, rather than on traditional authority or reasoning alone. He also proposed a new scientific inquiry method that emphasized observation, experimentation, and induction. This is called inductive Logic and differed dramatically from the prevailing reasoning that was based on Aristotle's method of deductive Logic. For example, in deductive reasoning, you start with a hypothesis like "All birds have feathers-Penguins are birds, Penguins have feathers. In Bacon's scientific inquiry process, using a similar example' the process would look like" All birds have feathers and fly- Penguins are birds that have feathers but don't fly, all birds have feathers and most of them fly".

What he produced

Francis Bacon is best known for his work "Novum Organum" (The New Organon), which was published in 1620. In this book, Bacon lays out his method for scientific inquiry and argues for a new approach to knowledge acquisition that emphasizes the importance of observation and experimentation. He criticized the traditional Aristotelian approach to knowledge, which relied heavily on logical deduction and the authority of ancient texts, and instead proposed a new method that would allow for the discovery of new knowledge through the systematic observation of nature.

Although Bacon differed from Aristotle in method, both men realized that there were pitfalls and possible errors that could be made and they both looked to identify them. Aristotle identified two main areas of logical errors: "formal fallacies" and "informal fallacies", where "formal" the structure of the argument is incorrect while "informal" have false or misleading information in the argument. Aristotle believed that by identifying and avoiding these fallacies, one could improve their reasoning and arrive sound conclusions.

Sir Francis Bacon identified and believed that errors could lead to false knowledge and impede the pursuit of truth. He referred to these sources of error as "Idols" and classified them into four categories:

1)"Idols of the Tribe" are errors that arise from the nature of human beings, such as cognitive biases and limitations of perception.

2) "Idols of the Cave" are bias errors that arise from an individual's personal beliefs, experiences, and education.

3) "Idols of the Marketplace" are errors that arise from the use of language and the influence of social and cultural influences, associations, and flawed exchanges.

4) "Idols of the Theater" are errors that arise from the influence of philosophy and dogmatic theories that are not based on observation and experimentation and question that old discoveries shouldn't anchor future beliefs.

2023 why do we care?

While Aristotle's logic was the prevailing method for 2000 years and Bacon's rejection of his methods seem to be at odds, they are interwoven into our thinking and reasoning every day. We use Inductive and Deductive reasoning all the time and often these two methods are intertwined as we read, listen and analyze information. Aristotle and Bacon had both the intelligence and humility to understand any process is only as good as the inputs and so they realized how biases and bad-faith arguments could derail reason and logical conclusions. In the spirit of Aristotle and Bacon, here are the 15 most common input mistakes called "logical fallacies", best described as a red light for reason.

A logical fallacy is an argument that can be disproven through reasoning. This is different from a subjective argument or one that can be disproven with facts; for a position to be a logical fallacy, it must be logically flawed or deceptive in some way.

* Ad hominem: An ad hominem fallacy is one that attempts to invalidate an opponent’s position based on a personal trait or fact about the opponent rather than through logic.

* Red herring: A red herring is an attempt to shift focus from the debate at hand by introducing an irrelevant point.

*Straw man: The straw man argument is one that argues against a hyperbolic, inaccurate version of the opposition rather than their actual argument.  

*Equivocation: An equivocation is a statement crafted to mislead or confuse readers or listeners by using multiple meanings or interpretations of a word or simply through unclear phrasing.

*Slippery slope: With a slippery slope fallacy, the arguer claims a specific series of events will follow one starting point, typically with no supporting evidence for this chain of events.

*Hasty generalization: A hasty generalization is a statement made after considering just one or a few examples rather than relying on more extensive research to back up the claim. It’s important to keep in mind that what constitutes sufficient research depends on the issue at hand and the statement being made about it.

*Appeal to authority: In an appeal to authority, the arguer claims an authority figure’s expertise to support a claim despite this expertise being irrelevant or overstated.

*False dilemma: A false dilemma, also known as a false dichotomy, claims there are only two options in a given situation. Often, these two options are extreme opposites of each other, failing to acknowledge that other, more reasonable, options exist.

*Bandwagon fallacy: In the bandwagon fallacy, the arguer claims that a certain action is the right thing to do because it’s popular.

*Appeal to ignorance: An appeal to ignorance is a claim that something must be true because it hasn’t been proven false. It can also be a claim that something must be false because it hasn’t been proven true. This is also known as the burden of proof fallacy.

*Circular argument: A circular argument is one that uses the same statement as both the premise and the conclusion. No new information or justification is introduced.

*Sunk cost fallacy: In the sunk cost fallacy, the arguer justifies their decision to continue a specific course of action by the amount of time or money they’ve already spent on it. 

*Appeal to pity: An appeal to pity attempts to sway a reader’s or listener’s opinion by provoking them emotionally.

Causal Fallacy: A causal fallacy is one that implies a relationship between two things that one can’t actually be proven.

*Appeal to hypocrisy: An appeal to hypocrisy, also known as a tu quoque fallacy, is a rebuttal that responds to one claim with reactive criticism rather than with a response to the claim itself.

Bacon believed that by recognizing and avoiding these idols, people can improve their reasoning and arrive at a more accurate understanding of the world. Bacon wrote, "If a man will begin in certainties he shall end in doubts, But if he will be content to begin in doubts he shall end in certainties".

And now you know...

Philosophy is the art of thinking, the building block of progress that shapes critical thinking across economics, ethics, religion, and science.

METAPHYSICS: Literally, the term metaphysics means ‘beyond the physical.’ Typically, this is the branch that most people think of when they picture philosophy. In metaphysics, the goal is to answer the what and how questions in life. Who are we, and what are time and space?

LOGIC: The study of reasoning. Much like metaphysics, understanding logic helps to understand and appreciate how we perceive the rest of our world. More than that, it provides a foundation for which to build and interpret arguments and analyses.

ETHICS: The study of morality, right and wrong, good and evil. Ethics tackles difficult conversations by adding weight to actions and decisions. Politics takes ethics to a larger scale, applying it to a group (or groups) of people. Political philosophers study political governments, laws, justice, authority, rights, liberty, ethics, and much more.

AESTHETICS: What is beautiful? Philosophers try to understand, qualify, and quantify what makes art what it is. Aesthetics also takes a deeper look at the artwork itself, trying to understand the meaning behind it, both art as a whole and art on an individual level. A question an aesthetics philosopher would seek to address is whether or not beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder.

EPISTEMOLOGY: This is the study and understanding of knowledge. The main question is how do we know? We can question the limitations of logic, how comprehension works, and the ability (or perception) to be certain.