Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Two Streams
On page 88 in The New Organon, Bacon distinguishes between "two streams and two dispensations of knowledge," namely, one focused on the cultivation of knowledge and one on the invention of knowledge. He states that these two "streams" do not oppose each other, but rather are inextricably weaved together. After reading this, I was surprised to discover that while Bacon believes both streams are necessary for harmony, he also seems to believe that one is more worthwhile than the other. After dismissing the cultivators of knowledge with a short wish of good luck, he makes a passionate call to all men "not content to rest in and use the knowledge which has already been discovered" to join together "as true sons of knowledge" and work towards better understanding nature. My question: can knowledge be separated into the two streams that Bacon suggests, and if it can, is one stream of knowledge more worthwhile, or more true than the other?
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I think that the point of his separating two "streams" of knowledge goes back to the basis for his construction of a new science. His whole discussion of how man's view of nature and science is stagnant and not progressing. So therefore, we need to invent this new science that he talks about in order to "advance the boundaries of science". At the same time, however, there needs to also be those who cultivate the newly invented science to promote it. It's less important though because again, the emphasis must be on this creation of new methods and new discoveries and one might say that we've gotten stuck in an artificial cultivation of our current "science".
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