Bacon's writing style in 'Of Friendship'
Francis Bacon is known to be a preeminent English essayist, lawyer, philosopher and statesman having leverage on the philosophy of science. Francis Bacon was one of the eminent crackerjack of English prose. He used to write a terse, epigrammatic, utilitarian prose, a prose well-structured and prescriptive, logical and illustrative. Bacon's prose was impregnated with practical wisdom, and he addressed his readers in an oracular voice which makes his works not only engaging for the readers but also easy to grasp. Many of Bacon's observations have become proverbial expressions in the English language. Bacon's style is most noteworthy for its terseness and displays a great expertise over condensation, such that each of his sentence manifolds several others. Bacon is an ace of aphoristic style and excels in expressing the truth in shortest possible meaningful words. As a pragmatic and as an empirical thinker Bacon followed two major renaissance doctrines i.e Sepantia or Search of Knowledge and Eloquentia , the art of rhetoric which shows that his writing was permeated with impassioned presentation of ideas and aphoristic style.
Bacon's essay "Of Friendship" is stylistically different from his other essays as it contains passionate and flattering statements along with examples to support or explain his arguments. Stylistic difference between “Of Friendship” and other Bacon’s essays is said to be eventuated because the essay was on his friend’s request. In the first paragraph he invokes basic aspects of human nature. First he mentions the saying of Aristotle that is “Whosoever is delighted in solitude, is either a wild beast or a god”. According to Aristotle , a man that has natural...
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...cates the level of concern and the importance he has in his heart for friendship.
If we compare “Of Friendship” to Bacon’s other essays, it has more in-depth explanations over the topic, which either shows that the writer is spiritually connected to the topic or the topic is sensitive it-self and demands better understanding.
The essay bear witness to Bacon’s learned mind in the extensive use of quotations and allusions drawn from various sources and classical fables.
It was a natural incident of this dispersed way of writing that the expression of each thought should have a felicity of its own, independent of its relation to the others; and Bacon did not mar this by trying to force them into a arrangement such as they might have had if one had risen out of another in an extended stretch of thought. If we forget this, we are about to do another injustice to Bacon,
Emil, a soon-to-be college student who has mountains of achievements, forms an unusual yet strong friendship with Brent even though the two have different personality types and very little in common. Emil is described as a kind, outgoing, extremely accomplished man who can fluently speak 3 languages and provide numerous pieces of information about Biology to Brent. On the other hand, Brent can only stand by and admire Emil’s charm and intelligence, for Brent is not able to perform all the amazing tasks that Emil is capable of. On...
... not be so blindly relied upon. However, after a bit more delving, that the story speaks not only of faith and it's hazards, but of the flaws in the puritan system.
friendship that it is so valuable? And, more specifically, how does this truth fit with
...nown, trained minds will build toward universal knowing, that is that the end of the work. In spite of his scientific approach, Bacon in no way discounted the religious content within the world. Knowledge may arise from inspiration. This was Bacon’s perception on the human mind.
I chose to write about Aristotle and his beliefs about how the virtuous human being needs friends from Book VIII from Nicomachean Ethics. In this essay I will talk about the three different kinds of friendship that (Utility, Pleasure, and Goodness) that Aristotle claims exist. I will also discuss later in my paper why Aristotle believes that Goodness is the best type of friendship over Utility or Pleasure. In addition to that I will also talk about the similarities and differences that these three friendships share between one another. And lastly I will argue why I personally agree with Aristotle and his feelings on how friendship and virtue go hand in hand and depend on each other.
In response to this summarization of Butler’s “Beside Oneself”, I have generated reasoning towards my answers to Butler’s questions within her writing. Though her summary makes many valid identifications, there are still many questions to be rejoined in a more in-depth manner.
Purity and Civility in The Praise of Folly by Desiderius Erasmus and Of Cannibals by Michel de Montaigne
Francis Bacon was an Attorney General and a Lord Chancellor under King James. The Lord Chancellor is the Second most powerful man in the country. Unlike William Shakespeare who in those times was a lowly actor looked down upon by the aristocratic class and it is contested whether he even had the education to even write at all, let alone what are considered to be the greatest literary works of all time. He also lacked the experience to write so well of things he never could have known no matter how smart, it would have taken personal experience to write on various topics so well. Legalese terms for example and the Inner workings of Royal Courts which a lowly actor could not have known. While Edward de Vere certainly had some power...
Just by looking at what is said on the surface you can see many comparisons that can be drawn to what Bacon wrote in the New Organon. For example, you can draw a similarity between the knowledge of the causes and Bacon’s second part which is called “Directions concerning the interpretation of nature”. You can see the similarity because in this instance because Bacon’s claims that to interpret nature humans need to go out and learn everything about nature that they can and to do humans should find the causes of things. Next the secret motions of things follows with Bacon’s second part because the House of Salomon is still researching the unknown just like Bacon said should be done. The “enlarging of the Human Empire” follows with Bacon’s view that science and thought should be done to benefit human beings and that is what the House of Salomon is trying to achieve this can be seen by all the advancements they are making in medicine. Finally the House of Salomon is interested in effecting all things because if they are focused on enlarging the Human Empire they need to study everything not just certain topics. This section is put first because it is the groundwork for everything to come, so if the narrator and the reader is going to understand what is to come they need to understand why the House of Salomon does what it
During Swift’s observation he maintains a scientific style of writing when speaking of his brilliant plan while continuing his satirical message in order to gain credibility. Swift’s main attributes are...
Aristotle presents his view of the mutual desire for good in others, or Friendship in his work, The Nicomachean Ethics. He asserts that friendship comes in three types, Virtue Friendship, Use Friendship, and Pleasure Friendship. He distinguishes Virtue Friendship as the perfect friendship, leaving Use Friendship and Pleasure friendship as deficient friendships. C.S. Lewis presents his view of friendship, which is motivated by appreciation love, in his book The Four Loves in a manner seeming to correspond to Aristotle’s concept of Virtue Friendship. Lewis also presents his perception of Companionship, which seems to correspond to Aristotle’s notion of Use and Pleasure Friendships. Lewis presents a more modern and seemingly accurate rehabilitation
Throughout our lives, we value many things. Whether it’s valuing family, a passion, or even priorities, we highly praise certain things. For now, let’s take friendship into consideration. Some individuals value friendship whereas others don’t. Those who value friendship value it because they turn to in order to seek shelter when there’s nowhere else to turn to. It is safe to say friendship is a significant part of our lives, and no individual can vouch for friendship like Greek philosopher, Aristotle. Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics delves into this idea of friendship being a necessity as well as conveying the three types of friendship he establishes. Friendship based on utility, pleasure, and virtue were thoroughly examined and ultimately, Aristotle developed a stance on the fact that friendship based on virtue is the one to attain. Subsequently, he provides a strong foundation for which he says friendship based on utility and pleasure are unstable friendships.
One literary device Rodman Philbrick uses the reveal the theme of the importance of friendship is characterization, what Max thinks. In the story when the first
“It was a new discovery to find that these stories were, after all, about our own lives, were not distant, that there was no past or future that all time is now-time, centred in the being.” (Pp39.)
Aldous Huxley called the essay “a literary device for saying almost everything about almost anything.”