Therefore from a closer and purer league between these two faculties, the experimental and the rational (such as has never yet been made), much may be hoped for. (Bk 1, Aphorism 95)
Bacon's method often identifies an ideal middle ground between two less-desirable extremes. In this case, he defines natural philosophy as that which is "pure and unmixed." For Bacon, the true natural philosopher utilizes both his faculties of understanding and those of sense perception. A common theme in past seminars has been finding the balance between reason and experience. In the subsequent aphorism, Bacon states that "we have as yet no natural philosophy that is pure." Philosophers are threatened by other academic pursuits that cloud the search for wisdom. Aside from logic, natural theology, and mathematics, what other diversions have challenged the natural philosophers? Is Bacon's ideal natural philosophy attainable?
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