Riddle of America, The - Waldorf Research Institute

America:The Price of GreatnessbyEdward WarrenWhile the Franciscan friars were Christianizing the Hopis in theAmerican Southwest in 1629, a barrister in London who called himself “thetrumpeter of a new age” was laying new foundations for natural science.Francis Bacon, the Viscount Saint Albans (1561–1626), was most concernedwith man’s use of the fields of knowledge through strictly scientific aimsand methods to obtain dominance over the world of nature. He lookedupon the mixture of science and theology as a superstitious and completelyhorrible state of mankind. According to Bacon, science and religion shouldnot be confused in the study of the natural world, a study which should bedirected to the glory of God and the relief of the human condition. True philosophyshould not be a search for truth, but something altogether practical.Knowledge should be acquired by experience and experiment. In order topave the way for this new philosophy of science, Bacon attacked the existingobstacles to knowledge, which he called idols. There were Idola Tribus—theidols of the tribe, fallacies due to man’s supposition of a greater order innature than actually exists. It also contains the fallacies inherent in humannature. There were Idola Specus—idols of the cave, errors due to individualprejudices, education and circumstances. There were Idola Fori—idols of themarket place, errors arising from the power of words and the unfit choiceof words. There were Idola Theatri—idols of the theater, errors arising fromlearned men who established fixed systems of thought. Amongst these,Bacon despised the “scholastics” of the Middle Ages, who never relatedtheir ideas to their experiences and thus created worthless knowledge, ac-306