第 59 节
作者:乐乐陶陶      更新:2021-02-24 23:08      字数:9321
  believe that Bacon was interested; not merely in the world of
  matter; but in the world of mind; that he sought to establish
  principles from which sound deductions might be made; as well as to
  establish reliable inductions。  Lord Campbell thinks that a perfect
  system of ethics could be made out of his writings; and that his
  method is equally well adapted to examine and classify the
  phenomena of the mind。  He separated the legitimate paths of human
  inquiry; giving his attention to poetry and politics and
  metaphysics; as well as to physics。  Bacon does not sneer as
  Macaulay does at the ancient philosophers; he bears testimony to
  their genius and their unrivalled dialectical powers; even if he
  regards their speculations as frequently barren。  He does not
  flippantly ridicule the homoousian and the homoiousian as mere
  words; but the expression and exponent of profound theological
  distinctions; as every theologian knows them to be。  He does not
  throw dirt on metaphysical science if properly directed; still less
  on noble inquiries after God and the mysteries of life。  He is
  subjective as well as objective。  He treats of philosophy in its
  broadest meaning; as it takes in the province of the understanding;
  the memory; and the will; as well as of man in society。  He speaks
  of the principles of government and of the fountains of law; of
  universal justice; of eternal spiritual truth。  So that Playfair
  judiciously observes (and he was a scientist) 〃that it was not by
  sagacious anticipations of science; afterwards to be made in
  physics; that his writings have had so powerful an influence; as in
  his knowledge of the limits and resources of the human
  understanding。  It would be difficult to find another writer; prior
  to Locke; whose works are enriched with so many just observations
  on mere intellectual phenomena。  What he says of the laws of
  memory; or imagination; has never been surpassed in subtlety。  No
  man ever more carefully studied the operation of his own mind and
  the intellectual character of others。〃  Nor did Bacon despise
  metaphysical science; only the frivolous questions that the old
  scholastics associated with it; and the general barrenness of their
  speculations。  He surely would not have disdained the subsequent
  inquiries of Locke; or Berkeley; or Leibnitz; or Kant。  True; he
  sought definite knowledge;something firm to stand upon; and which
  could not be controverted。  No philosophy can be sound when the
  principle from which deductions are made is not itself certain or
  very highly probable; or when this principle; pushed to its utmost
  logical sequence; would lead to absurdity; or even to a conflict
  with human consciousness。  To Bacon the old methods were wrong; and
  it was his primal aim to reform the scientific methods in order to
  arrive at truth; not truth for utilitarian ends chiefly; but truth
  for its own sake。  He loved truth as Palestrina loved music; or
  Raphael loved painting; or Socrates loved virtue。
  Now the method which was almost exclusively employed until Bacon's
  time is commonly called the deductive method; that is; some
  principle or premise was assumed to be true; and reasoning was made
  from this assumption。  No especial fault was found with the
  reasoning of the great masters of logic like Aristotle and Thomas
  Aquinas; for it never has been surpassed in acuteness and severity。
  If their premises were admitted; their conclusions would follow as
  a certainty。  What was wanted was to establish the truth of
  premises; or general propositions。  This Bacon affirmed could be
  arrived at only by induction; that is; the ascending from
  ascertained individual facts to general principles; by extending
  what is true of particulars to the whole class in which they
  belong。  Bacon has been called the father of inductive science;
  since he would employ the inductive method。  Yet he is not truly
  the father of induction; since it is as old as the beginnings of
  science。  Hippocrates; when he ridiculed the quacks of his day; and
  collected the facts and phenomena of disease; and inferred from
  them the proper treatment of it; was as much the father of
  induction as Bacon himself。  The error the ancients made was in not
  collecting a sufficient number of facts to warrant a sound
  induction。  And the ancients looked out for facts to support some
  preconceived theory; from which they reasoned syllogistically。  The
  theory could not be substantiated by any syllogistic reasonings;
  since conclusions could never go beyond assumptions; if the
  assumptions were wrong; no ingenious or elaborate reasoning would
  avail anything towards the discovery of truth; but could only
  uphold what was assumed。  This applied to theology as well as to
  science。  In the Dark Ages it was well for the teachers of mankind
  to uphold the dogmas of the Church; which they did with masterly
  dialectical skill。  Those were ages of Faith; and not of Inquiry。
  It was all…important to ground believers in a firm faith of the
  dogmas which were deemed necessary to support the church and the
  cause of religion。  They were regarded as absolute certainties。
  There was no dispute about the premises of the scholastic's
  arguments; and hence his dialectics strengthened the mind by the
  exercise of logical sports; and at the same time confirmed the
  faith。
  The world never saw a more complete system of dogmatic theology
  than that elaborated by Thomas Aquinas。  When the knowledge of the
  Greek and Hebrew was rare and imperfect; and it was impossible to
  throw light by means of learning and science on the texts of
  Scripture; it was well to follow the interpretation of such a great
  light as Augustine; and assume his dogmas as certainties; since
  they could not then be controverted; and thus from them construct a
  system of belief which would confirm the faith。  But Aquinas; with
  his Aristotelian method of syllogism and definitions; could not go
  beyond Augustine。  Augustine was the fountain; and the water that
  flowed from it in ten thousand channels could not rise above the
  spring; and as everybody appealed to and believed in Saint
  Augustine; it was well to construct a system from him to confute
  the heretical; and which the heretical would respect。  The
  scholastic philosophy which some ridicule; in spite of its
  puerilities and sophistries and syllogisms; preserved the theology
  of the Middle Ages; perhaps of the Fathers。  It was a mighty
  bulwark of the faith which was then accepted。  No honors could be
  conferred on its great architects that were deemed extravagant。
  The Pope and the clergy saw in Thomas Aquinas the great defender of
  the Church;not of its abuses; but of its doctrines。  And if no
  new light can be shed on the Scripture text from which assumptions
  were made; if these assumptions cannot be assailed; if they are
  certitudes;then we can scarcely have better text…books than those
  furnished to the theologians of the Middle Ages; for no modern
  dialetician can excel them in severity of logic。  The great object
  of modern theologians should be to establish the authenticity and
  meaning of the Scripture texts on which their assumptions rest; and
  this can be done only by the method which Bacon laid down; which is
  virtually a collation and collection of facts;that is; divine
  declarations。  Establish the meaning of these without question; and
  we have principia from which we may deduce creeds and systems; the
  usefulness of which cannot be exaggerated; especially in an age of
  agnosticism。  Having fundamental principles which cannot be
  gainsaid; we may philosophically draw deductions。  Bacon did not
  make war on deduction; when its fundamental truths are established。
  Deduction is as much a necessary part of philosophy as induction:
  it is the peculiarity of the Scotch metaphysicians; who have ever
  deduced truths from those previously established。  Deduction even
  enters into modern science as well as induction。  When Cuvier
  deduced from a bone the form and habits of the mastodon; when
  Kepler deduced his great laws; all from the primary thought that
  there must be some numerical or geographical relation between the
  times; distances; and velocities of the revolving bodies of the
  solar system; when Newton deduced; as is said; the principle of
  gravitation from the fall of an apple; when Leverrier sought for a
  new planet from the perturbations of the heavenly bodies in their
  orbits;we feel that deduction is as much a legitimate process as
  induction itself。
  But deductive logic is the creation of Aristotle; and it was the
  authority of Aristotle that Bacon sought to subvert。  The inductive
  process is also old; of which Bacon is called the father。  How are
  these things to be reconciled and explained?  Wherein and how did
  Bacon adapt his method to the discovery of truth; which was his
  principal aim;that method which is the great cause of modern
  progress in science; the way to it being indicated by him pre…
  eminently?
  The