第6章　弗朗西斯•培根

6.1　复习笔记

Francis Bacon (1561-1626) (弗朗西斯·培根)

1．Life (生平)

Bacon was the son of Sir Nicholas Bacon, Keeper of the Privy Seal to Queen Elizabeth, an Ambassador to France. At the age of 12, he went to Cambridge and after graduating at 16 he took up law. He completed his legal education, was called to the bar and at 23 he became a member of the House of Commons. During the reign of James I, his position raised quickly. He was appointed Lord High Chancellor, the head of the legal system of England and made a peer with the titles of Baron Verulam and Viscount St Alban. But three years later, he was accused of bribery and was deprived of his office and banished from London. His last years were spent on literary and philosophical works. Alexander Pope described him as “the wisest, brightest, meanest of mankind”.

培根出生于一个贵族家庭，其父为掌玺大臣尼古拉斯·培根爵士。他12岁就上剑桥大学，16岁毕业，然后从事法律事务。完成法律学习后，取得律师资格，23岁时成为众议院议员。在詹姆士一世统治时期，培根不断得到晋升，并最终被任命为大法官（英格兰法律体系的头领），同时还被晋封为维勒拉姆男爵、圣·阿本斯子爵。但是三年后他被控贿赂罪，丢了职务、被赶出伦敦。他晚年从事文学和哲学作品创作。蒲柏称他是“最聪明、最出色、最卑鄙的人”。

2．Major Works (主要作品)

Bacon’s works may be divided into three categories:

(1) Philosophical works--the best known of which is the Advancement of Learning (1605), Novum Organum (1620), and De Augmentis Scientiarum (1623);

(2) Literary works--Essays;

(3) Professional works--the largest and most important of his professional works are the treaties entitled Maxims of the Law and Reading on the Status of Uses.

Among his works, his essays have been greatly widely read. He continued to revise and enlarge his essays until the final edition of 58 essays appeared in 1625. His essays have been quoted as textbooks as much as Shakespeare’s plays.

培根的作品可分为三类：

（1）哲学类——最著名的是《学术的进展》、《新工具》、《论学术的价值及其发展》;

（2）文学类——《随笔》;

（3）专业类——篇幅最长、作用最大的是《法律箴言》和《谈使用法则》。

在他的这些作品中，他的散文是被最广泛阅读的。他不断修改并增加散文，直至1625年出版的最后一版，已经包含了58篇散文。他的散文就像莎士比亚的戏剧一样经常被引用到课本中。

3．Selected Works (选读作品)

◆Of Truth《论真理》

“Of Truth” first analyzes why people love lies, and then states that truth is the sovereign good of human nature. At the end of the essay, Bacon quotes the words of Montaigne to show the vice and disgrace of lies: “If it be well weighed, to say that a man lieth is as much as to say that he is brave towards God and a coward towards men.”

《论真理》首先分析了人们嗜好谎言的原因，然后表明真理是一种人性的最高美德。文章最后作者提到说谎是一种恶德，让人蒙羞，并引用了Montaigne的话加以说明：“仔细考虑起来，要是说某人说谎就等于说他对上帝很大胆，对世人很怯懦”。

◆Of Studies《论读书》

“Of Studies” discussed the purposes, functions of study, people’s different views towards study and various study methods. The essay is characterized by the use of parallelism, concision and full of wisdom.

《论读书》详细讨论了读书的目的和功能，世人对读书的不同态度，并介绍了读书的各种方法。文章的特点在于使用了排比的修辞手法，简练的语言以及充满了智慧。