A History of the Origins of World Philosophy, British Empiricism II: Francis. Bacon 3

British Empiricism II: Francis. Bacon 3

(3) "Market Illusion"

What is a market illusion? Bacon said: "Another kind of illusion is formed by the handover and connection between people, which I call the illusion of the market, taking the meaning of people's handover in the market. People are connected by talk, and the words used are according to the understanding of ordinary laymen.

　　Therefore, the misalignment of the choice of words is a surprising obstacle to comprehension. The definitions or annotations that learned people are accustomed to defending themselves against in certain things cannot correct things in the slightest. And the written word still openly coerces and unifies the power of understanding, confuses everything, and leads people to countless empty arguments and senseless fantasies. To summarize this passage of Bacon's words into plain language is the misguided way of knowing that in communication, whether spoken or written, is led astray in the way of knowing because of the inaccuracies of the information used, the language or the written word.

　　This one and not about it. It is very meaningful to pay special attention to language misunderstandings and list language misunderstandings as one of the 4 major illusions.

　　Language is the most basic information symbol on which human beings live, and it is with human civilization. But once it was created, it became an information system independent of human beings. In other words, human beings create language, but they cannot use it as they please, and language has its own norms, rules, and laws. This is tantamount to saying that human beings invent language and must obey the drive of language. Human beings have laws, and language has laws. On the one hand, human beings can only develop and enrich language according to the laws of language, and language must also follow its own inherent rules to improve itself. Humanity, on the other hand, loses civilization without language, and language loses its subject without humanity. - Without the subject, it cannot exist, it cannot exist, let alone develop.

　　Language is the most basic way information exists. Information changes, so does language. The content of the information changes, and so does the way it exists. Not only are the quantities increasing, but the rules, norms, and even the way they exist are changing.

　　Today's mathematical logic and computer language are new ways of existing in language information. Although the language changes, it cannot be changed. It is only by not changing that there is a traceable evolutionary history, so it has become a key for human beings to understand historical civilization.

　　As language changes, it constantly seeks new rules and new ways of being. Studying the undeveloped prospects of language is equivalent to predicting the future civilization of mankind from one side.

　　Language is essentially a form of information, but information must be limited, and there are rules when there is a limit. Rules apply – guaranteeing the possibility and accuracy of the information conveyed. However, limitation will become a kind of bondage, and only by breaking the old shackles can new forms of information emerge, and so on. The study of language is not something that can be understood in two words. Bacon excelled in his ability to see the special significance of language for thought, even though he emphasized only the negative.

　　Even if we understand language as a static system, its role cannot be underestimated. For example, in war, the party that can decipher the codes of both sides, even if it cannot guarantee the final victory, can at least guarantee the stage victory. On the other hand, if the password is not secret, or if you misread or even can't read your own password, it is not equivalent to handing over your life to the enemy.

　　However, the accuracy of language is not easy to talk about, and new terms are constantly emerging. The new language is inevitably unsympathetic, and even abominable, so that many languages are faced with this unclassified language, and they feel headaches. But the headache, despite the headache, has to calm down to understand the exact meaning of these new terms—because as long as people accept it, or use it, or have used it, you have to give it a precise definition. For example, in recent years, some experts have been dissatisfied with the "big names", "Kanye", "hot pot city", "Oriental Plaza" and so on, although you are dissatisfied, you are helpless. Even if Mr. Bacon were alive, he could only refer to it as an illusion. Illusions do exist, not to mention that there are many fakes in our real life.

　　Even if you have a strong sense of market, quality and consumption, there are many illusions and weather, so that you can't prevent it.

　　Language is a human patent, and the misconception of language is the negative value of this patent.

　　(4) "Theater Illusion"

What is a theater illusion? Bacon said: "There is also a kind of illusion transplanted into people's minds from various dogmas of philosophy and some false laws of argument. I call these illusions of theater; for it seems to me that all accepted systems of doctrine are nothing more than many stage plays, showing some of the worlds that people themselves have created in the style of fictional sets. What I am saying is not limited to some of the systems that are in vogue now, nor to the philosophies and sects of antiquity; there are many very different mistakes, but often for most of the same reasons, and I think that more plays of the same kind will be written and rehearsed in the same artificial way in the future. I am not limiting myself to the complete system, but to many of the principles and principles of science that are recognized by tradition, credulity, and negligence. The analogy of the recognized academic system to the stage is novel and wonderful. And how many historical facts can be testified by the recognized academic system as a trap for human understanding.

　　However, the change of ideological system is not easy, the formation of a system is not easy, and once it is formed, it can be changed overnight. Confucius's ideological system, from its birth to its official approval, was used for hundreds of years, the Han Confucian exegesis was used for hundreds of years, the Song Confucian commentaries, the doctrine of the Doctrine, the Ming Confucianism on the nature of the mind, and then used for hundreds of years, until the modern Neo-Confucianism. You want to say that the Master system will never change, that is not realistic, but is it really so easy to change a new system? Even if it is an accepted custom, it is difficult to change it. Indians worship cattle like gods, cattle roam the streets leisurely, cars encounter no temper, this custom to change it, is it easy?

　　Moreover, Mr. Bacon had to oppose more than just one or two systems. The system he wants to criticize is not one, but three—at least three, including "speculative, empirical, and superstitious." His overall spearhead was directed at the ancient Greek philosophical system, represented mainly by Aristotle.

　　But the difficulty of changing the ancient Greek philosophical system of thought is the same as the difficulty of Chinese changing the Confucian system. However, if the old system does not lift the inhibition of people's thinking, the new ideology and culture, even if it has some achievements, will not mature after all. And Bacon was the first person in modern Western history to hold high the battle flag and fight against the entire ideological system of ancient Greece. His purpose in writing the New Instrument was to target Aristotle's Treatise on Tools, and he insisted on refuting the old theory and establishing a new one. And, to put it simply, he was indeed a successful man.

(2) About induction

　　Induction and deduction are the most basic ways of thinking in logic, but the great philosophers of modern Western history did not treat and use them in a purely logical sense.

　　Induction and deduction are indispensable. Deduction without induction takes an extreme divergent path, which is likely to send a farewell and is far from returning. Induction without deduction is easy to slip into the shallow trap, and if it is not done well, it becomes a kind of closed system with little value.

　　But in Bacon's time, both induction and deduction were on the verge of an era of historical development. They all need to complete their respective pioneering and reconstruction tasks on the basis of new epistemology. The task of establishing a new method of induction was given to Bacon, and the heavy task of establishing a new method of deduction fell on the shoulders of the great French philosopher Descartes and others.

　　The main object of criticism of Bacon's induction method seems to be Aristotle's induction, but on closer analysis, the so-called Aristotle's induction method is actually a medieval theological logic that is filled with the essence of medieval philosophy in the name of Yasch.

　　Bacon opposed the old doctrine, whether it belonged to the Middle Ages or Aristotle, and rejected and rejected it. In this regard, he focused on 9 reasons. Here's a choice.

　　First, "Just as all the sciences we have now do not help us discover new work, so all our present logic does not help us discover new sciences." This is a general principle, which begins with a clear meaning, first characterizing the old logical method - the death penalty. Then there are the specific reasons. Articles 3, 4 and 9 of these seem to be particularly important.

　　The third article says: "Syllogism cannot be applied to the first principles of science, and it is invalid to the axioms of the middle; for it is inferior to the subtlety of nature." Therefore, it can only force people to agree with propositions, but it cannot grasp things. Bacon believed that the vitality of the new logic lay in the fact that it was derived from concrete things, generalized, and found the truth. The old method of logic only starts from the proposition, and sometimes the proposition is simply wrong, based on the wrong proposition, and forcing people to agree to the proposition, how can the correct conclusion be drawn.

　　Article 4: "Syllogism is composed of propositions, propositions are composed of words, and words are symbols of concepts." Thus, if the concept itself (which is the root of the matter) is not clear and is drawn from facts hastily, then the superstructure has no solid foundation. This article complements and concretizes the previous one. The main point of his criticism is the way in which syllogism is composed: syllogism consists of propositions, and propositions are composed of words, and words are symbols of concepts; in reverse, it is from symbols to words, and then from words to the topic, that is, from concepts to concepts. And the conceptual approach is clearly something that modern empiricist philosophy cannot agree with. What Bacon was opposing was precisely this old logic, which grew entirely from concepts without looking at concrete things or respecting experience, and what is more to say that the concepts used in this logic were "inherently unclear." Using concepts that are not already unclear as a basis for induction, the conclusions drawn are naturally more confusing. Only then did Bacon put a bracket specifically on this place and write in brackets: "This is the root of the matter." Article 9: "There are only two paths to the search for and discovery of the truth, and there can only be two." One is to fly from sensations and special things to the most universal axioms, to regard these principles as fixed and unchanging truths, and then to judge and discover the axioms in the middle from these principles. This path is popular now.

　　The other path is to derive the axioms from the senses and the special, and then to rise gradually and continuously, and finally to reach the most universal axioms. It's the real path, but it hasn't been tried yet. From logic to truth, it is said that it is "home". The popular method at that time was to "fly" from feeling to universal axiom. Then he recognizes this truth as omnipotent, omnipresent, and all-encompassing magic weapon, and uses it only to "judge and discover the axioms of the middle." Its essence is still from dogma to dogma, from concept to concept, and Bacon does not agree with this method. His method is: "From feelings and special things to the axioms are introduced, and then gradually rise continuously, and finally the most universal axioms are reached." His approach is gradual, first finding the second-order truth in concrete things, the "middle axiom," and then discovering the higher truth, the "universal axiom."

So, what is the middle axiom? The middle axiom is the truth that is in direct contact with what is summarized. For example, if the object of our study is steel, then we cannot summarize the universal truth from steel at once, but we should first find out the truth about steel, the secondary truth, and then deal with the ordinary truth. For example, when we study military science, we must first summarize all phenomena and things related to the military to the level of truth in military science, and then consider the truth at a higher level.

　　It is clear that the method used by Bacon has a typical empiricist tendency. Even to this day, it still has a certain reference and enlightening value for human beings.

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