Skip to main content

Discuss Bacon as a Moralist.



BACON AS AMORALIST:

Bacon is certainly a moralist and he appears in that role in his essays. His essays abound in moral percepts. He lays down valuable guidelines for human conduct. He urges human beings to follow the right path in every field of life--- political, social, domestic, etc. The essay, Of Truth, is frankly didactic. The object of the writer is to instill into the minds of the readers a love of truth. A man’s mind, says he, should “turn upon the poles of truth.” All the reasoning of human beings, says Bacon, should base upon truth... “Clear and round dealing is the honour of man’s nature. ….For these winding and crooked courses are the goings of the serpent, which goeth basely upon the belly, and not upon the feet. He goes on to Montaigne who said that, in telling a lie, a man was brave towards God but a coward towards his fellow-men. Concluding the essay, Bacon says that falsehood is wicked and such wickedness will duly receive its punishment on the doomsday. Indeed, much of the essay is a moral sermon.

In the essay, Of Suitors, Bacon says that a man should refuse to undertake a suit rather than undertake it by giving a false hope to the petitioner. After having undertaken a suit, a man should keep telling the petitioner exactly how much he has made progress in the case. Furthermore, he should ask for a reward for only that much of the service that he has actually rendered. A man who has undertaken a suit should not take under advantage of any information, which is available to him through a petitioner. If he finds it difficult to promote a   suit, he should allow the petitioner to approach somebody else for help. Those who undertake suits and employ all kinds of crooked methods in having them granted or rejected are the worst offenders in society. Bacon shows the same high respect for moral principles in some of his other essays. For example, “A man that hath no virtue in himself ever envieth virtue in others” (Of Envy). “The desire of power in excess caused the angels to fall; the desire of knowledge in excess caused man to fall; but in charity there is no excess; neither can angel or man come in danger by it” (Of Goodness and Goodness of Nature). The author of such principles was a man who theoretically at least cherished a profound love and respect for justice: “The principal duty of a judge is to suppress force and fraud” (Of Judicature).

However, Bacon is not a moral idealist. He does preach morality but not ideal morality. The kind of morality he preaches has a tinge of worldliness. We might even say that his guiding principle is appropriateness, while morality is a secondary consideration. We cannot even claim that he was certain of the existence of moral principles of absolute validity. His essays seem to be the work of an opportunist. In the essay, Of Truth, he certainly admires truth but then he also points out that falsehood is like alloy in gold and silver, which makes metal better, even though it lowers the value of metal. By pointing out this, he dilutes all that he has said in this essay in praise of truth. It is obvious that Bacon is concerned only with worldly success, and that he intends with his morality to help people achieve worldly success. In other words, Bacon shows his concern for an individual’s success in life rather than a concern for absolute morals or for any absolute ethical standards.

 In short, Bacon’s principles are sensible. Bacon appears to be looking down from a height and determining what course of conduct pays best. He condemns cunning, not as a hateful thing but as a thing that is unwise. Occasionally he even lays down the rules for immoral conduct without a word of open disapproval. For this reason, critics regard Bacon’s morality as a cynical wisdom. The essays, which deal with domestic relations, by their tone and substance, also confirm this impression. His view of friendship is purely and fundamentally utilitarian. Friendship gives comfort to heart; light to understanding and help in affairs of life. Thus, Bacon gives it a high value. Bacon throws no hint that a man may get a noble position by a deed of pure selflessness. In the essay, Of Marriages and Single Life, Bacon says that wife and children are hostages to fortune. According to Bacon, they are discipline of Humanity. However, he hardly seems to be aware of any wider influence. He emphasizes the utility of wife by saying that for a young man a wife is a mistress, for a middle-aged man she is a companion, and for an old man she serves as a nurse. His view of love is also devoid of any passion or intense emotion. He looks upon love as “the child of folly” and urges his readers to serve it wholly from the serious affairs and actions of life.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Waiting for Godot: A play in which nothing happens twice

A Play in Which Nothing Happens Twice    Translated into over a dozen languages, Waiting for Godot has been performed in little theatres and large theatres, by amateurs and professionals, on radio and television. Scarcely four decades old, Waiting for Godot has sold over a million copies in the original French and nearly that many in Beckett’s own English translation. Starring Steve Martin and Robin Williams, it was a smash hit at the Lincoln Center Theatre, with tickets available by lottery only. Quite an achievement for a comic drama in which absolutely nothing happens. (One reviewer, in fact, called it a two-act play in which nothing happens twice.) Waiting for Godot contains clowning of the highest degree, which attracts audiences, and likely the play’s enigma contributes to its appeal. Its symbolism is obscure or non- existent; its “message” is individual to each audience member, and the “nothing happens” becomes our daily existence. On a lonely country road near a tree...
Post a Comment
notesvilla.ml

Q: WHAT IS SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TITLE "WAITING FOR GODOT"?

Q:      WHAT IS   SIGNIFICANCE   OF THE   TITLE "WAITING FOR GODOT"? Q:      IT    IS NOT GODOT BUT WAITING THAT MAKES THE WHOLE PLAY. HOW CAN YOU MAKE A CONVINCING CASE? Ans: Waiting for Godot is a multi—sided play with significant title. Its meanings and implications are complex. It is possible to look upon it as a clever farce or view it as a tragic exposition of human predicament. Its themes have certain topicality but at the same time, they possess a timeless validity and universality. It is an existentialistic play but at the same time mocks at the attitude of existentialism. It seems to have some religious implications even though it seems of be questioning profoundly the Christian concept of salvation and grace. The title "Waiting for Godot," suggests waiting for a mysterious stranger who has obvious symbolic dimensions and implication. Godot may be a representative, in Beckett's contemporary term ...
1 comment
notesvilla.ml

VLADIMIR AND ESTRAGON ARE REPRESENTATION OF MAN IN GENERAL. ACCEPT OR REJECT THE STATEMENT.

Q:      TO WHAT EXTANT VLADIMIR AND ESTRAGON ARE METAPHORS OF HUMANITY IN "WAITING FOR GODOT"? Q:       VLADIMIR     AND      ESTRAGON    ARE REPRESENTATION OF MAN IN GENERAL. ACCEPT OR REJECT THE STATEMENT. Q:      MAJOR CHARACTERS IN "WAITING FOR GODOT" ARE HUMAN BEINGS IN SEARCH FOR MEANINGS IN THE MEANINGLESS, HOSTILE UNIVERSE. Ans: Authors bring into play different modus operandi in their writings. Samuel Beckett makes use of allusions and references to characters to help the reader understand what the characters stand for. In his drama Waiting for Godot, Beckett's two main characters, Estragon and Vladimir, are symbolised as man. Separate they are two different sides of man, but together they represent man as a whole. In Waiting for Godot, Beckett uses Estragon and Vladimir to symbolize man's physical and mental state. Estragon represents the physical ...
Post a Comment
notesvilla.ml