Lecture 24 02-06-12 Bacon’s critical project –AND SHAKESPEARE’S THE TEMPEST The turn is not simply from Ontology to Epistemology, for the sufficient reason that Bacon recognizes that we may be misled by our own nature, our individual disposition and training, our language, and our existing beliefs. As Bacon sees it, ‘natural philosophy’ in his time was in a deep conflict with superstition—most often in the form of religion. Since there is little that is systematically defensible in prevailing beliefs (even if they are presumably derived from Aristotle), such that knowledge of the world and its causes and operations cannot be had directly from religion. This sets in motion a 400 year drama, from the Protestant reformation, to the historical study of biblical texts, in which point for point, the natural claims of religion have been rigorously critiqued: whatever else one gets from scripture, it is not truth about the world. The second was the appeal of skepticism—in its most destructive form, as the belief that since knowledge is always changing, the truth is simply not available. Bacon’s point is that we have continued to search it by fundamentally defective methods: no wonder we have made little progress. But the more substantive problem is the conflict between realism and nominalism. On this, Bacon is not clear. He is inclined to a nominalist position, since the realist view so easily collapses into dogmatism. But he does believe that nature can disclose “ideas of the Divine”—i.e., actual laws of nature—such that his nominalism leads directly to contradictions and paradoxes.

Systematic questions A little clean up of incomplete issues The shape of complex histories at the level of dominant questions: What elements are necessary for a coherent philosophical system? Ontology: a belief about what exists Epistemology: a coherent theory of knowledge Order: a conception of reality Logic: a strategy of reasoning These are paired: an Ontology requires an Epistemology; O+E metaphysics an Ordering principle requires a Logic; O+L method

The ‘ogy’ words and the ‘isms’ These are common words, but uncommonly misleading Ontology, Epistemology; Phenomenology, Axiology Idealism, Materialism; Realism, Nominalism; Rationalism, Empiricism; Criticism, Historicism As ordinarily used, the terms lose philosophical force because they are not logically arrayed. When we contrast ‘idealism’ with ‘realism,’ the distinction is practical and virtually meaningless, depending in the first case on a sloppy notion of ‘ideals’—as something most to be desired; and an unphilosophical notion of ‘realism’—in which ‘reality’ is presumed to be unpredictable, messy, brutish, and harsh.

A schema of systematic terms - Reality includes an Intelligible or supersensible realm ONTOLOGY IDEALIST ORDERING PRINCIPLE Yes, there are real universals RATIONALIST EPISTEMOLOGY FORMALIST CRITICAL LOGIC INTUITIONIST,HISTORICIST LOGIC REALIST NOMINALIST judgment No, ‘universals’ are just names given to provisional concepts EPISTEMOLOGY ORDERING PRINCIPLE EMPIRICIST MATERIALIST Reality is just material, through and through ONTOLOGY

Critical Interpretation While this diagram can be very helpful in sorting out why certain philosophical stances are most commonly aligned across the four functions specified (ontology, order, epistemology, logic), the most fundamental problems are axiological or normative, and therefore hinge on judgment. The motive in Bacon (as in Bruno), however, is to capture the link between knowledge and power—and whether we take this to be a logical question (how do we decide truth and validity?) or ethical (is what we are proposing to do with our knowledge inherently good?)

The Literary Text as experiment Like a theory, a literary text is, in mode, hypothetical: suppose that x . . . What follows? In The Tempest, we have a meeting ground of Bruno and Bacon, but set not in the alchemist’s studio or the natural philosopher’s study: it is in the full play of all the forces that affect human life. IF you had universal power, WHAT WOULD YOU ACTUALLY DO? Following Bacon, we have to do with the four idols: of the tribe (our own nature); the cave (our individual disposition and education); the marketplace (common language); and the theater (schematized systems of belief). We’ll be looking at Shakespeare’s play as a detailed following out of a critique, implied by Bacon’s The New Organon.

The text Go through your text and sequentially number the scenes. The act, scene divisions are an artifact of later editorial practice. The reason for doing so is to track more exactly the structural design of the play. Don’t fall for the excuse that you can’t read Shakespeare’s language. It’s modern English. His vocabulary may be unfamiliar, but your text has notes at the bottom of the page—and you have access to the Oxford English Dictionary through the UW Library portal.

Old and Middle English Chaucer: Canterbury tales 14th century Beowulf: ~9th century Hwæt! We Gardena     in geardagum, þeodcyninga,         þrym gefrunon, hu ða æþelingas         ellen fremedon. Oft Scyld Scefing         sceaþena þreatum, monegum mægþum,     meodosetla ofteah, egsode eorlas.         Syððan ærest wearð feasceaft funden,       he þæs frofre gebad, weox under wolcnum,   weorðmyndum þah, oðþæt him æghwylc      þara ymbsittendra ofer hronrade         hyran scolde, gomban gyldan.     þæt wæs god cyning! Hear! We spear Danes in the old days Of clan kings heard of their glory How those earls preformed bravely Oft Scyld, Scef’s son from other hosts From many peoples siezed the mead benchs And terrified the Earls, since first he was Found helpless He has thrived Waxing great under heaven, gaining glory Until to him each tribe all around Over the whaleroad to him submitted and gave gold. That was a good king! Chaucer: Canterbury tales 14th century Whan that aprill with his shoures soote      1 The droghte of march hath perced to the roote,      2 And bathed every veyne in swich licour      3 Of which vertu engendred is the flour;      4 Whan zephirus eek with his sweete breeth      5 Inspired hath in every holt and heeth      6 Tendre croppes, and the yonge sonne      7 Hath in the ram his halve cours yronne,     8 And smale foweles maken melodye,      9 That slepen al the nyght with open ye     10 (so priketh hem nature in hir corages)     11 Thanne longen folk to goon on pilgrimages,      12 And palmeres for to seken straunge strondes,     13 To ferne halwes, kowthe in sondry londes;      14 And specially from every shires ende      15 Of engelond to caunterbury they wende,     16 The hooly blisful martir for to seke,      17 That hem hath holpen whan that they were seeke.

The Play First performed at court in 1611; performed a second time for the wedding of King James’ daughter Anne. No public performances recorded. The play is almost alone for having no known source for the story, though it draws on Montaigne’s Essays (On Cannibals), and has a few allusions to early explorations.

The plot The play is an ordered sequence of scenes, with a structure remarkably unnoticed. Ferdinand & Miranda 5 Clowns’ confusion Caliban 4 6 Court party Harpy’s banquet 7 3 Prospero Wedding masque 2 8 tempest Reconciliation 1 9 The action on the left is completed, in perfect symmetry, in the scene on the right.

The situation Timeline: Prospero usurped by his brother Antonio and Alonso of Naples Miranda was 3; they have been on the island for 12 years (she’s 15). Caliban was a child (under 3?) when his mother Sycorax died & Ariel was locked in a pine tree—where he stayed for 12 years. (Caliban 13-15 when Prospero arrives; he’s about 25-27 when the play starts) Alonso has just married his daughter Claribel to the King of Tunis