Research Article
The Place and Character of Motion Concept in Francis Bacon's Natural Philosophy
Hamburg Univesität
Published: January 1987 · Vol. 9 · pp. 46-68
Full Text
Abstract
Bacon's concept of "motion" was originally formed from his interest in the problem of the transmutation of the body. Then he, who had accepted the force of "action-at-a-distance" used by the magician, rejected Aristotle's theory of motion, rather favored the Democritus' atomism. Thus, the main interest of Bacon's early works was the discovery of the "Simple Motion" in the nature, say, "the summary law of nature", with which he would like to understand the nature. But his vitalistic view of matter and his view of nature that the form of the world could not be explained by the motion inherent in matter, was acted as the motive of the modification of his early concept of motion. Therefore, the importance of the knowledge about the motion was greatly diminished. At last, his main interest was changed to the works of the natural history with which he was to discover the "Simple Form," say, "the summary law of nature" in place of motion. His natural philosophy in this course became to be vitalistic one deviated from the concept of the modern mechanical philosophy. And, the "Simple Motions" of the Novum Organum originated from the scattered motions of the early Filum Labyrinthi Sive Inquisito Legitime de Motu (1608), which were modified, supplemented, arranged into nineteen motions by his interest in the cosmology from 1608 to 1620. But, in the remark of the nineteen "Simple Motions" Bacon took an interest in only arrangement of the various forces in nature, while he didn't explain all the phenomena of the nature with the sums of this motions concretely and consistently. At last, the "Simple Motions" of the Novum Organum didn't become even the "Summary law of nature" which he would have discovered from the motion, and didn't become mother-womb of the modern Mechanical Philosophy, too. They were a kind of immature infant appeared during the modern scientific revolution.