Bacon's essays are didactic. explain this with reference to the essy "of studies".
To
moralist and spiritualist like blake, bacon's essays may be "Good advice
for Satan's kingdom " but one
cannot completely deny that the essays
are devoid of any moral consideration. there is a didactic or moral note underlying
the essays. likely, in "of studies" one finds a dichotomy of wisdom
and values.
bacon
opens his essay typically with his aphoristic
statement "studies serve for delight, for ornament, and for ability
" and them further explains the reasons of his argument. but he does not finish only staring the uses
of studies and how men use them but also States his moral view.
" To spend too much time in studies is sloth; to uae
them too much for ornament is affection ; to make judgment wholly by their
rules is the humour of a scholar ".
thus,
bacon deprecates much studies and the scholars habit to make his judgment from
his reading instead of using his independent
views.
Again,
bacon sounds like a moralist when he
advises to "read not to contradict and confute; nor to believe and take
for granted ; nor to find talk and discourse. " to him, one should study
to "weigh and consider. " bacon calls him a wise man who gains wisdom
by keen observation and experience because studies "are perfected by experience. "
then,
bacon argues that alone studies do not shape a perfect man.he also needs
conference and writing : " reading maketh a full man; conference a ready
man; and writing an exact man." bacon further tells that studies not only
help to gain worldly benefit but also pass into one's character. that is, the
constitution of one's moral disposition is the outcome of one's learning and
experience. so, he advises to read to
develop one's moral view along with practical utility. according to him, " histories make men wise; poets writty
; the mathematics subtle; natural philosophy deep; moral grave ; logic and
rhetoric able to contend."
bacon's
essay " of studies", therefore, has didactic values along with its
pragmatic utility. bacon gives counsels how to improve one's ability and
character through proper studies.
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