First, everyone should read ALL of the introduction to book one [titled "Author's Preface"]. It is very inportant in introducing (duh) the topics to be discussed and outlines the theme of the importance of knowledge that we will focus on.

This is the part where things get a little tricky for you fellas; you all will be responsible for choosing THREE (3) chapters [i.e., what Bacon calls "aphorisms"] within the New Organon that are of particular interest to you and you must be able to explain why that is. KEEP IN MIND: the "meat and potatoes" of our discussion is with regards to Bacon's belief that ideal knowledge gained through observation of natural phenomena and the formation of hypotheses from those observations. We will also focus on Bacon's belief that,"Those who have taken upon them to lay down the law of nature as a thing already searched out and understood, whether they have spoken in simple assurance or professional affectation, have therein done philosophy and the sciences great injury."

Some questions to think about will be:

Do you agree with what Bacon says about knowledge gained through observation? Why or why not?

Do Bacon's theories support or negate scientific and experimental procedures as we know them today? Again, why or why not?

What do you think Bacon would say is the highest form of knowledge? How is this knowledge gained? Do you agree?

What does Bacon say about the works of his contemporaries? Why do you think he says this? (This is in the intro)

Give an example(s) of Bacon's "ideal" experiment/scientific procedure.

Matt Maher