Probably, each of us has heard the phrase “Knowledge is power” more than once. Who said these words? In connection with what was said such a phrase? And why is knowledge power? Let's talk about this further.
What is knowledge?
So, today we’ll talk about the famous saying “Knowledge is power”. Who said that phrase? When were the first words spoken that became known to everyone? We will answer all these questions later. And now we’ll try to figure out what knowledge is.
In a broad sense, this concept is interpreted as the totality of norms and ideas acquired by a person. In fact, knowledge is the result of cognitive activity of an individual or group of persons.
In a narrow sense, this concept means the possession of certain information, which allows us to solve the tasks.
Knowledge is not limited solely to science. It can be either extra-scientific, or routinely practical.
Next, we will consider the origin of the famous aphorism “Knowledge is power” (who said this phrase and therefore).
Who said?
So, the author of the statement “Knowledge is Power” is Francis Bacon. The name of this person is known all over the world. Francis Bacon is a famous English thinker, philosopher, politician. He was born in 1561 in London. Graduated from Cambridge University. When he was only 23 years old, he was elected to the House of Commons of the English Parliament. Under Jacob I, he became the keeper of the royal seal (his father also held this position).
In 1605, the first part of Francis Bacon's treatise, The Great Restoration of Sciences, was born. The main theme of the philosopher's work was the idea of the limitlessness of the progress of human development.
Francis Bacon is considered the father of empiricism - a philosophical trend that recognizes sensory experience as the main source of knowledge. He defended positions radically opposed to Aristotle and medieval scholastics.
The main provisions of the philosophy of Francis Bacon can be reduced to the following points:
- God did not forbid people to know things.
- The correct method is the key to successful research.
- The basis of scientific knowledge is induction (i.e., when generalizing, it is necessary to adhere to the rules known to everyone) and experiment (a method for studying a certain subject under controlled conditions).
- There are 4 human errors that interfere with cognition. These are the so-called ghosts: “kind” (come from the very essence of man), “caves” (individual characteristics of the perception of the world), “horses” (arise from communication), “theater” (are transmitted from one person to another).
- Francis Bacon not only looked for provisions that would confirm any thesis, but also facts refuting it.
So, we examined the origin of phraseology “Knowledge is power” (who said it). Now we will try to find out the initial meaning of the famous phrase.
The meaning of phraseology
Saying that “knowledge is power”, the author expressed one of the main provisions of the new thinking. It was Francis Bacon who revised the understanding of the relationship between man and nature, already established in philosophy. He argued that people are the subject of knowledge. At the same time, nature in his philosophy is an object of study.
Francis Bacon in knowledge saw a powerful impetus for progress in social relations. He was the founder of the scientific method of cognition. He divided the research into practical and theoretical, and also developed the principles of the so-called new logic.