Contents

Acknowledgments References to Bacons works Prologue 1 The nature of Bacons project From arcane learning to public knowledge A via media Practical knowledge The classification of knowledge Mathematics and practical learning Eclecticism 2 Humanist models for scientia An education in rhetoric The office of the philosopher The reform of law 3 The legitimation of natural philosophy Zealotry and the well-ordered state The religious vindication of natural philosophy The political vindication of natural philosophy The disciplinary vindication of natural philosophy The utilitarian vindication of natural philosophy 4 The shaping of the natural philosopher The psychology of knowledge The poverty of antiquity The interpretation of the past External impediments and the historicisation of knowledge Purging the floor of the mind

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