Of Studies

By: Francis Bacon

Presented By:
MUHAMMAD SHTIAQ
Lecturer, Dept. of English, PCIU
 Francis Bacon
(1561-1626)

 Sir Francis Bacon (later Lord

Verulam and the Viscount St.
Albans) was an English lawyer,
statesman, essayist, historian,
intellectual reformer,
philosopher, and champion of
modern science.
 Early Life and Education:
 Born on January 22, 1561 in Strand, London
 His father, Sir Nicholas Bacon, was a famous English
politician and Lord Keeper of the Great Seal during the
reign of Queen Elizabeth I of England.
 His
mother, Lady Anne Cooke, daughter of Sir Anthony
Cooke, a knight and one-time tutor to the royal family.
 Bacon was mostly homeschooled in his early years. He
entered Trinity College, Cambridge in 1573 to 1575 when he
was merely 12. He also attended the University of Poitiers
 Contributions and
Achievements:
 Francis Bacon is often called the father of modern science.
He initiated a massive reformation of every process of
knowledge for the advancement of learning divine and
human.
 As the creator of empiricism, Francis Bacon formulated a set of
empirical and inductive methodologies, for setting off a
scientific inquiry, known as the Baconian method. His call for a
plotted procedure of inquiring things, with an empiricist
naturalistic approach, had a profound impact on the rhetorical
and theoretical framework for science.
 Bacon also served as the philosophical inspiration behind the progress
of the Industrial age. He always suggested that scientific work should be
done for charitable reasons, and for relieving mankind’s misery with
the invention of useful things.
 Bacon also authored several books and essays that advocated
reformations of the law, and many of them regarding religious, moral
and civil meditations.
Later Life and Death:
 Francis Bacon was appointed a Lord Chancellor in
1618. Unfortunately, he was accused of bribery and
was forced to resign, after which Bacon retired to his
estate continuing with his literary, scientific, and
philosophical work.
 He died of pneumonia in Highgate, London on
April 9, 1626 at the age of 65 years old.
 Of Studies
Studies serve for delight, for ornament, and for ability. Their chief use for
delight, is in privateness and retiring; for ornament, is in discourse; and for ability,
is in the judgment, and disposition of business. For expert men can execute, and
perhaps judge of particulars, one by one; but the general counsels, and the plots
and marshalling of affairs, come best, from those that are learned. To spend too
much time in studies is sloth; to use them too much for ornament, is affectation;
to make judgment wholly by their rules, is the humor of a scholar. They perfect
nature, and are perfected by experience: for natural abilities are like natural
plants, that need pruning, by study; and studies themselves, do give forth
directions too much at large, except they be bounded in by experience. Crafty
men contemn studies, simple men admire them, and wise men use them; for
they teach not their own use; but that is a wisdom without them, and above
them, won by observation.
Read not to contradict and confute; nor to believe and take for granted; nor to
find talk and discourse; but to weigh and consider. Some books are to be tasted,
others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested; that is, some
books are to be read only in parts; others to be read, but not curiously; and some
few to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention. Some books also may be
read by deputy, and extracts made of them by others; but that would be only in
the less important arguments, and the meaner sort of books, else distilled books
are like common distilled waters, flashy things. Reading maketh a full man;
conference a ready man; and writing an exact man. And therefore, if a man write
little, he had need have a great memory; if he confer little, he had need have a
present wit: and if he read little, he had need have much cunning, to seem to
know, that he doth not. Histories make men wise; poets witty; the mathematics
subtile; natural philosophy deep; moral grave; logic and rhetoric able to contend.
Abeunt studia in mores. Nay, there is no stond or impediment in the wit, but may
be wrought out by fit studies; like as diseases of the body, may have appropriate
exercises.
Bowling is good for the stone and reins; shooting for the lungs
and breast; gentle walking for the stomach; riding for the head;
and the like. So if a man’s wit be wandering, let him study the
mathematics; for in demonstrations, if his wit be called away
never so little, he must begin again. If his wit be not apt to
distinguish or find differences, let him study the Schoolmen; for
they are cymini sectores. If he be not apt to beat over matters,
and to call up one thing to prove and illustrate another, let him
study 197 the lawyers’ cases. So every defect of the mind, may
have a special receipt.
Of Studies by Francis Bacon —
Line by line explanation
Studies serve for delight, for ornament, and for
ability. Their chief use for delight, is in
privateness and retiring; for ornament, is in
discourse; and for ability, is in the judgment, and
disposition of business.
Explanation
:
 Delight: some people gain knowledge for pure delight. People,
who acquire knowledge for delight, do so because they enjoy it.
For instance, those who play sports practice and learn about
their sport because they want to, not because they have to.
 Ornament: some people who gain knowledge for mere
ornament. These people only want to improve themselves in the
eyes of others. These are the people who try to better
themselves by bragging about their achievements and
accomplishments in conversation with others.
 Ability: they want to show that they are able to do something.
They learn for themselves in their free time. Ability is widely used
in the area of business, those who are well educated rather
than those who are not better run a company.
To spend too much time in studies is sloth; to use them too much for
ornament, is affectation; to make judgment wholly by their rules, is the
humor of a scholar. They perfect nature, and are perfected by
experience: for natural abilities are like natural plants, that need pruning,
by study; and studies themselves, do give forth directions too much at
large, except they be bounded in by experience.
Explanation:
 At the same time Bacon encourages studies, he warns that 1) too
much studying leads to laziness; 2) if one uses one's knowledge too
often in conversation with others, then one is showing off; and 3) to
be guided solely by one's studies one becomes a scholar rather than a
practical man. Bacon's argument about the value of studies is that
moderation is the key to using studies appropriately: studies are
wonderful only if influenced by experience because a person's natural
abilities are enhanced by studies, but studies without experience, lead
to confusion in dealing with the outside world.
Crafty men contemn studies, simple men admire them, and wise
men use them; for they teach not their own use; but that is a
wisdom without them, and above them, won by observation.
Read not to contradict and confute; nor to believe and take for
granted; nor to find talk and discourse; but to weigh and
consider. Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed,
and some few to be chewed and digested; that is, some books
are to be read only in parts; others to be read, but not curiously;
and some few to be read wholly, and with diligence and
attention. Some books also may be read by deputy, and extracts
made of them by others; but that would be only in the less
important arguments, and the meaner sort of books, else
distilled books are like common distilled waters, flashy things.
Explanation:
 According to Bacon, dishonest men condemn education; stupid
men admire education; but wise men use education as their real
world experience dictates. Education is meant to be preparation
for the real world. People should not use education to show off
and make themselves appear superior to others. Some people
make judgments solely on information acquired from books.
However, a true scholar would filter that information acquired from
books and apply it to their own life experience where it will be
useful. In addition, Bacon advises that some books can be read
by others, who take notes, and the notes can substitute for
reading an entire book--but these books should not be those that
cover important subjects.
 Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man.
And therefore, if a man write little, he had need have a great memory; if he confer
little, he had need have a present wit: and if he read little, he had need have much
cunning, to seem to know, that he doth not.

•Explanation:
•  Bacon returns to addressing the effects of reading, conversing, and writing:
reading creates a well-rounded man; conversation makes a man think
quickly; and writing, by which Bacon usually means argument essay writing,
makes a man capable of thinking with logic and reason. Further, Bacon
argues, if a man doesn't write very much, he has to have a good memory to
compensate for what he doesn't write; if he doesn't exercise the art of
conversation, he needs to have a quick wit; and if he doesn't read very much,
he has to be able "to fake it," to pretend that he knows more than he does.
Histories make men wise; poets witty; the mathematics subtle; natural
philosophy deep; moral grave; logic and rhetoric able to contend. Abeunt
studia in mores (studies pass into and influence manners). Nay, there is no
stond or impediment in the wit, but may be wrought out by fit studies; like
as diseases of the body, may have appropriate exercises. Bowling is good
for the stone and reins; shooting for the lungs and breast; gentle walking
for the stomach; riding for the head; and the like. So if a man’s wit be
wandering, let him study the mathematics; for in demonstrations, if his wit
be called away never so little, he must begin again. If his wit be not apt to
distinguish or find differences, let him study the Schoolmen; for they are
cymini sectores (splitters of hairs). If he be not apt to beat over matters,
and to call up one thing to prove and illustrate another, let him
study 197 the lawyers’ cases.
 Explanation:
 History, Bacon argues, makes men wise; poetry, clever;
mathematics, intellectually sharp; logic and rhetoric, skilled
in argument. Further, Bacon believes that there is no
problem in thinking that cannot be fixed by the appropriate
study--just as the right physical exercise cures physical
illnesses. Every disorder of the mind has a cure--for
example, if a man cannot use one set of facts to prove the
truth of an un-related set of facts, Bacon advises the study of
law.
 So every defect of the mind, may have a special receipt.

Explanation:
 Every defect in thinking can be cured by another form of
study.
Summary:
 Francis Bacon’s “Of Studies” serves reading of books as a means in
finding man’s purpose in life. It emphasizes the importance of
knowledge, open-mindedness, and theory empowering skill. Without
books, there would not be any needed improvement for man hence no
other means of satisfying his curiosity. A man’s purpose in life is not
limited to appreciating on what he has for, in some perspective, man has
insatiable desires and needs. Hence, being alive means wanting to know
more. The main point of all of it is that there will always be new
discoveries; always a reason to obliterate existing knowledge with a new
one. As said by Gelett Burgess, “If in the last few years you haven’t
discarded a major opinion or acquired a new one, check your pulse. You
may be dead.”
Thank you !