Summary
Bacon begins The Advancement of Learning by praising King James I for his appreciation of knowledge and knowledge acquisition.
Then, he outlines his own ideas for what knowledge acquisition should look like in the modern era. He contradicts King Solomon, who argued that acquiring more knowledge only leads to anxiety, as it introduces man to his own sense of inadequacy.
Instead, Bacon differentiates between two types of knowledge: pure knowledge and proud knowledge. Proud knowledge, Bacon argues, is what caused man's fall from grace. It is also the knowledge that leads to atheism, which Bacon condemns.
By contrast, pure knowledge is knowledge about the natural world that has benefits for mankind. This knowledge derives from man's natural sense of wonder and awe for the universe and all the mysteries it contains. This knowledge brings man closer to God, inspiring him to pursue an understanding of the divine while avoiding sins like pride and sloth.
Next, Bacon alludes to Martin Luther and his contributions to literature and philosophy. He says that Luther unearthed ancient texts, encouraging his followers to engage with literature from antiquity. However, Bacon also argues that this caused men to pursue words only, and not meaningful experiences that would help them acquire knowledge about the world around them.
Additionally, Bacon argues that men have grown too accustomed to immediate gratification and receiving hasty responses to questions they might have.
Bacon encourages his readers to seek knowledge first and foremost through dedication to God, as God is the creator of all possible knowledge. He concludes Book One by noting that only through learning does man elevate himself above the beast, and only through the diligent pursuit of knowledge can man transcend the confines of his corporeal form.
Analysis
Bacon's The Advancement of Learning is one of his most well-known texts, and is considered by many to be his most influential treatise.
The text is divided into two books. Book One is largely dedicated to criticism: Bacon takes issue with a number of past philosophers who have theorized about the acquisition of knowledge. One of these philosophers is the biblical King Solomon, with whom Bacon disagrees regarding the affects of knowledge acquisition. While Solomon argued that knowledge only increases man's anxiety because it makes him aware of his own shortcomings, Bacon refutes this claim by distinguishing between this type of knowledge (proud knowledge) and the other, more virtuous knowledge (pure knowledge).
This is a significant categorization because it helps establish the rest of Bacon's argument within the treatise, which is that knowledge is to be obtained through engagement with the natural world. Proud knowledge – which Bacon condemns – places man at its center, and is therefore responsible for the original sin of Adam and Eve. By contrast, pure knowledge exists out in the world, and in order to acquire it, man must sacrifice his pride and understand that he is only a small element of an otherwise vast and mysterious universe.
Book One also firmly establishes that Bacon's conception of knowledge is not antithetical to belief in God or practicing religion. On the contrary, Bacon's argument is that the pursuit of knowledge is itself created, consecrated, and encouraged by God. As such, Bacon suggests that the natural inclination one feels toward awe and wonder at the universe is the spirit of God pushing man toward questions, experiments, and learning.
This correlation Bacon makes between God and knowledge is significant because it in many ways preemptively combats any criticism of Book Two, in which Bacon lays out his own map of human knowledge and details his particular process of knowledge acquisition (known as the Baconian method). By beginning Book One with an argument about God's consecration of knowledge, Bacon suggests that the arguments to follow are themselves endorsed by the Christian religion. As such, Book One of the The Advancement of Learning operates as an elaborate preamble that is also an apology in the rhetorical sense of the term – wherein Bacon defends his methods of Book Two with divine inspiration before sharing them with the reader.
