200

HISTORICAL VIEW OP THE

adapted to mark the differences, others to catch the re-semblances of things: each of these tendencies easilyruns into excess; and each individual has his peculiarliability to be misled by impressions of one or the otherkind. The particular studies, also, to which a man ismost addicted have a great effect in influencing hisopinion, and warping his judgment.

3d. The “ idola fori” (of the forum or market) arethose that arise out of the commerce or intercourse ofsociety, and especially from language, which may be-come the guide, and assume the government of ourthoughts, instead of being only the conventional symbolsto express them. This is nearly allied to the excellentremark of Hobbes , that words are the money of fools,but only the counters of wise men.

4th. The “ idola theatri” (of the theatre) are thedeceptions which have taken their rise from the systemsor dogmas of the different schools of philosophy. Ba-con ’s idea was, that each of those systems brought arepresentation of an imaginary world upon the stage :hence the name. They do not enter the mind naturally,like the former three ; a man must labour to acquirethem, and they are often the result of great learningand study. “ Philosophy,” he observes, “ as hithertopursued, has taken much from a few r things, or a littlefrom a great many; and, in both cases, has too narrowa basis to be of much duration or utility.” The formerkind he calls empirical philosophy; it takes all its prin-ciples from a few facts: such, in his time, was the phi-losophy of the alchemists. The latter he calls sophistical;and of this kind were all the physical systems of theancients, the main part being superadded by the inven-tion, of the philosopher.

Bacon then proceeds to sketch the history of ancientphilosophy, and to point out the circumstances whichhad hitherto favoured these perverse methods of phi-losophising. Pie shows the influence of false ambitionon the one hand, and visionary hopes on the other; thepernicious effect of the reverence for antiquity, and the