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The New Organon

Review Quiz

Context

General Summary

Important Terms

Important Themes, Ideas and Arguments

The Great Renewal

Book One: Preface and Aphorisms I–LXXXVI

Book One: Aphorisms LXXXVI–CXXX

Book Two: Aphorisms I–XX1

Book Two: Aphorisms XXII–LII

Outline of a Natural and Experimental History

Important Quotations Explained

Key facts

Study Questions and Suggested Essay Topics

Review Quiz

Suggestions for Further Reading

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The New Organon

Francis Bacon

Review Quiz

To which government office was Francis Bacon appointed in 1618?

(A) Advocate in chief

(B) Principal auditor

(D) Prime minister

To whom is the The New Organon dedicated?

(A) Louis XIV

(B) James I

(D) Elizabeth I

What is Bacon's overall project known as?

(A) The great renewal

(B) The beginning of progress

(D) The confederation of dunces

What is the "art" that Bacon seeks to apply in his work?

(A) The advancement of learning

(B) The parsing of opposites

(D) The interpretation of nature

Which device of logic does Bacon reject?

(A) The conjecture

(B) The syllogism

(D) The conclusion

What name does Bacon give to the obstacles that hinder the advance of reason?

(A) The Furies

(B) The Idols

(D) The Virtues

With what logical method is Bacon associated?

(A) Exclusion

(B) Induction

(D) Deception

The New Organon is summarized in what form?

(A) Bullet points

(B) Hypotheses

(D) Paragraphs

What does Bacon call the true statements that are eventually produced by considering natural phenomena?

(A) Axioms

(B) Aphorisms

(D) Autodidacts

Which kinds of idols relate to language and human interaction?

(A) Idols of the theater

(B) Idols of the cave

(D) Idols of the tribe

Which ancient philosopher does Bacon particularly attack?

(A) Aristotle

(B) Plato

(D) Anaxagoras

When can the authority of ancient authors be useful to the investigator, according to Bacon?

(A) When their conclusions are based on sound arguments

(B) When they listen to nature

(D) When you want to find out the background to a topic

From whom, according to Bacon, do most of our sciences come?

(A) The Romans

(B) The Greeks

(D) The French

Which writer and theorist of magnetism does Bacon criticize in the Novum Organon?

(A) Gilbert

(B) Blythe

(D) Faraday

What has been the enemy of natural philosophy in every age?

(A) The teachings of Aristotle and Plato

(B) Poor experimental technique

(D) Superstition and the blind, immoderate zeal of religion

What does Bacon argue must be constructed before the work of induction can commence?

(A) A natural history

(B) A catalogue of animals

(D) A preliminary analysis

How many privileged instances does Bacon list?

(A) Fourteen

(B) Thirty

(D) 105

What is the subject of the second book of The New Organon

(A) The secondary system of logic

(B) The actual interpretation of nature

(D) Practice

What are crucial instances (instantiae crucis) also known as?

(A) Determinant instances

(B) Cruxes

(D) Instances of the finger-post

What is the first stage of the investigation of forms?

(A) A presentation to the intellect of all known instances

(B) A collection of all the known variables

(D) The determination of the subject-matter

What does Bacon place in an appendix to the two books of the The New Organon?

(A) A sketch of the rest of his argument

(B) An outline for a natural and experimental history

(D) A reconsideration

What is the process of preliminary interpretation also known as?

(A) The first harvest

(B) The initial instance

(D) The first result

What is the first task of induction?

(A) The first harvest

(B) The rejection or exclusion of similar natures

(D) The demolition of syllogisms

Who does Bacon hope will fund the creation of a complete natural history?

(A) The general public

(B) Educated landowners

(D) His family

What is the task and purpose of human science, according to Bacon?

(A) To uncover hidden knowledge

(B) To discover the Form of a given nature

(D) To assign instances

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