Dispersed Meditation in Francis Bacon

The essays of Francis Bacon show the example of Dispersed Meditation. It is the style, where, though the discussing matter is same, the ideas that are coming one by one are not well organized or ideas don't come consecutively. This is why the question of dispersed meditation has been raised. Of course, Bacon does not stay away from the subject that he places before himself. There is nothing irrelevant or unrelated to the theme. He does not allow his mind or fancy to loiter and roam. But we can't describe his essays as well-knit compositions because there are no light connections between the various ideas and the ideas do not seem to flow from one another. We can't claim that an essay by Bacon has a structural unity. Ideas have been put together in his essays almost at random. In "Of Studies", we find various ideas regarding study. The author gives us ideas about the uses and abuses of reading books, ways of reading and so on. But we don't find any connection between the ideas. He jumps from one topic to another topic very abruptly, although the main topic, study, remains unchanged. None of the multitudes of ideas are fully developed, but then one may argue that an essay by its very nature implies a mere attempt and not a complete treatment of a subject. This is true but there should surely be some kind of smooth flow of ideas from one to another. There sentences have a tendency to stand by themselves, having no or little link with preceding or succeeding sentences. The very first sentence of this essay reads like a string of aphorism or maxim. In the very first sentence of this essay, Bacon tells about the three chief uses of studies; the use of studies for delight, for ornament and for ability. He also gives excellent advices so as to why and how one should read. Then he speaks of those who spend too much time in studies are temperamentally lazy. Here her says, "To spend too much time in studies is sloth; to use them too much for ornament, is affectation; to make judgment wholly by their rules, is the humour of a scholar." Actually in there sentences, Bacon tries to show the user and causes of studies, but next he jumps to another idea about studies without any logical connection between the preceding and the succeeding sentences. Here he starts talking about the interrelationship between studies and practical experiences. Studies help a man to overcome deficiencies that he has by nature, and studies give shape of natural talents. Here he says, "They perfect nature and are perfected by experiences for natural abilities are like natural plants, that need proyning by study". This is an example of dispersed meditation. Next he jumps to another track. That is the right attitude towards reading. Here he says that one should read a book so that one can think carefully about what it says and then judge its value, saying, "Crafty men contemn studies, simple men admire them, and wise men use them". Next he jumps to the modes of study and their uses, saying, "Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man". In the previous sentence where he was talking about what we should take from study, now he says what study gives us. Next he discusses about various branches of studies and their curing ability. In this part, he says that History makes a man wise, Poetry makes a man imaginative, Mathematics makes a man's mind keen and subtle of so do other branches of studies. Actually every branch of knowledge has its curing ability. Studies cure mental just as the appropriate physical exercise cure effects of the body. Dispersed ideas are also found in the essay, "Of Truth". Here also we see that the central idea is about Truth, although he gives various ideas regarding truth and truthfulness in dispersed way. Although we find various ideas like the people who do not care for truth, reasons why truth is disliked, poetic untruth, nature of truth and truth in civil business, we don't find any connection or interrelationship among there topics. At first Bacon tells the readers about the people who don't care for truth. Certain people find great pleasures in changing their opinions frequently because they desire ultimate freedom to act and think, which would not be possible if they had to believe in a fixed principle. Here Bacon says, " Certainly there be that delight in giddiness and count it a bondage to fix a belief; affecting free-will in thinking, as well as acting". And he gives the idea that standers of truth in religions, philosophical and moral spheres keep changing from time to time. Then he proceeds, very abruptly, to examine the tendency of human beings to feel more pleased by lies than by truth, and finds it difficult to explain as to why people should tell lies for the sake of lies. He says, "that man should love lies" for "lies sake" Then he jumps to the fact that the harm that is done by lies that sinks into the minds of people and settles down there. Next he speaks about the values of truth, which can be realized by those who have experienced and understood it. The essay concludes with a warning that the wickedness of falsehood and breach of faith with receive their due punishment in the Judgement Day. Actually, Bacon doesn't offer a particular thesis on the subject of Truth but merely records his thoughts as them come. In summing up it can be same that Bacon's essays are the full of dispersed meditation. The ideas that come one after another don't have much harmony between them. Actually his writings are full of aphorism for which the sentences of his essays seem not related with one another. And all these things are seen in various essays of Bacon. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. BACON ESSAYS- BLEND OF PHILOSOPIZING, MORALIZING AND WORDLY WISDOM: Introduction: “I have taken all knowledge for my province” says Bacon and “Beyond any other book of the same size in any literature they are loaded with ripest wisdom of experience.” Says Hudson regarding Bacon’s essays. No body can deny the wisdom of Bacon of his understanding of the affairs of the world. He shows an extraordinary insight regarding the problems that men face in life. But his wisdom is only practical and not moral. Alexander Pope has given the following remarks about Bacon in his epic: If parts allure these think how Bacon shin’d The wisest, brightest and meanest of mankind There is some basic truth in this contention. One cannot deny his wisdom, his observation, intellect and genius. Bacon was a very complex and enigmatic character. The dichotomy of moral values what one finds in his essays was to be found in his character, too. Compton-Rickett says, “He had a great brain, not a great soul.” He wanted to serve humanity with through the expansion of usable knowledge. He was aware that no headway could be made in this world without adopting certain mean ways. He was a product of the Renaissance with composite qualities such as wisdom, meanness and brightness. Bacon was a man of the Renaissance and that was an age which tried to explore to the full, the opportunities of mind and body afforded to man. The term, Renaissance means Re-birth or more generally the Revival of Learning. It was a series of events by which Europe passed from Medieval to a Modern Civilization. In this age, there was a new spirit of inquiry, of criticism and of passionate scientific inventions. Literature of that age was chiefly marked by this spirit and Bacon’s essays have several features that show the spirit of Renaissance. A very important writer of the Italian Renaissance was Machiavelli whose opportunistic philosophy sacrificed high ethical ideals in the interest of achieving material progress. Man is an individual and an end in himself and this sense of individualism gave rise to the feeling that he must know how to get on in this world. The revival of classical learning and the study of ancient Greek and Roman Literature and history was a hallmark of the Renaissance. The spirit of learning is very much in the essays of Bacon. There are many allusions to ancient history and the references to classical mythology are all evidence of the typical Renaissance culture. Latin writers such as Seneca and Virgil and Lucian have frequently been drawn. His love of learning is portrayed in his essay Of Studies and he substantiates his arguments in his essay, Of Friendship with instances from history. Blake on reading the essays of Bacon is supposed to have remarked that they were good advice for Satan’s Kingdom. Now, a Satan’s Kingdom naturally implies a state of affairs in which morality has no place or in which actions are governed by a complete lack of principles. To some extent, it is indeed undeniable that Bacon’s advice incorporates a certain cool disregard for high moral ideals. The actual fact is that in Bacon’s essays, one find dichotomy of values, the essays present a strange complexity and contradiction of wisdom and values. In order to understand the real meaning of his essays, it is imperative to understand the underlying purpose of his writing. Man was the subject of most literature and man is the subject of Bacon’s essays too. Thus the wisdom that Bacon shows in his essays is regulated by the practical consideration. It is frankly utilitarian. This does not mean that the essays don’t contain ethical or philosophical values, they do, but the overall hallmark of his essays is practical use. Wisdom, Meanness and Brightness: To a religious-minded man like Blake, advice such as what Bacon offers in his essays must indeed have been shocking. Blake would regard any utilitarian advice as opposite to God’s ways, but Bacon was not so particular, for he a man of the Renaissance. It is easy to assume that Bacon’s wisdom was cynical because many of his advice calmly ignores ethical standards and seems to imply that nothing succeeds like success. Bacon is utilitarian, but he is so because he realized that the vast majority of the people in the world are guided by this attitude and success for them has only one meaning – the material success. His essays reflect the profound wisdom of his mind, his brightness is ascertained by his vast knowledge and literary and classical allusions made in his works, his meanness does not deal with his money. He was reputed to be a very generous man. He was mean because he showed a surprising lack of principle in promoting his selfish interests. Philosopher – cum – moralist: At least two of his essays present him as entertaining deep regard for high sentiments and the sanctity of truth. Of Truth speaks of truth, love and fair dealings in high terms. Here he is a philosopher who advocates the pursuit of truth. He is also a moralist when he says that “man’s mind should turn upon the “poles of truth.” Falsehood debases man despite his material gains and success. Bacon advocates man to follow a path of truth and truthfulness. Similarly, his essay Of Goodness and Goodness of Nature is on a purely moral plane. He counsels goodness, charity and benevolence and there is a clear condemnation of evil. There are some essays in which he puts a number of moral precepts, not ignoring prudential aspects. When we come to Bacon’s essays dealing with subjects such as love, marriage, family life and parents and children, we are struck by the cold and unemotional treatment of topics what could easily admit an emotional approach. Prudence governs marriage, love and friendship. Love is an emotion, not fit for life according to Bacon. As a philosopher, he takes a balanced view of every thing, weighs the pros and cons of every issue, presents different aspects of the picture and counsels moderation. This is a rationalist’s approach and it preludes emotion and feeling. The essays are a handbook of practical wisdom. Each essay is a collection of suggestion and guideline for a man of action. His essays lack coherence and logical sequence, otherwise a quality in a standard essay. But his essays are unity of ideas. Conclusion: But it has to be pointed out that Bacon is not a moral idealist. He does not preach morality, but not ideal morality. The kind of morality he teaches is tinged with what is called worldliness. We might even say that the guiding principle is expediency. Yet one cannot say that Bacon is amoral or immoral in his advice. In every issue, he balances the advantage and disadvantage. Even within the utilitarian code, there is a code of conduct – a morality that is perhaps as high as is easily practicable in the world as we know it. His essays embody the wisdom and philosophy and morality of a clear-eyed realist who knows quite well that men should be and but also knew what they actually were. Bacon is undoubtedly a man whose morality is greater than the average man’s, but it is not of the highest order. The pursuit of good and right are important but not if it proves too costly in worldly terms. His advice is neither for Satan’s Kingdom nor for God’s, but for the Kingdom of man.