Francis Bacon and the Renaissance Therapies of the Soul

Abstract

In the following pages, we will adopt the view of Francis Bacon’s reform of sciences as a therapeutic method for the improvement of the intellectual faculties. We will broaden the scope of this interpretive line of Bacon’s thought, by distinguishing three competing therapies of the soul during the Renaissance (each of them proposing its own principles and aims for the care of the human soul): The Therapy of Eros, maintained by Renaissance (neo)platonic philosophers; the Therapy of skepticism, proposed by Michel de Montaigne, and lastly, the Therapy of Bacon himself, as stated in his The Advancement of Learning as well as in the Novum organum, Book I. In our study, we will describe each of these theories, showing their main philosophical tenets, and exploring how they oppose to each other; finally, in comparing these three Renaissance therapies of the soul, our discussion aims to achieve a better comprehension of Bacon’s new method for human knowledge in its own intellectual contexts.