Is Knowledge Power?  

作　　者：Cheng Zhimin 

机构地区：[1]Research Center for Social Sciences, Hainan University,Haikou,Hainan,570228,China

出　　处：《Contemporary Social Sciences》2023年第2期38-51,共14页当代社会科学（英文）

基　　金：the phased achievement of a program supported by the National Social Science Fund of China called“Translation and Research of Bacon’s Collected Works”(18BZX093)。

摘　　要：Francis Bacon’s famous quote“knowledge is power,”has long been misunderstood,for his real intention was precisely to make humankind aware of the limitations of knowledge.His concept of potestas(power)is not about conquest,but about action,aiming to clarify the nature of knowledge,to get rid of the empty and shallow contemplation of antiquity,and thus to bring the spirit of the real world back to the earth,as Socrates did.Bacon emphasized the unity of knowledge and action while valuing action over knowledge.Nature in Bacon’s time was no longer sacred and was degraded to a poor substance that revealed its secrets after being tortured by scientific technology.As a result,natural teleology was completely abandoned.Bacon put man in increasing tension with nature,heralding Kant’s argument that human reason prescribed lawfulness to nature.But Bacon,after all,lived in an era not far from antiquity,so he agreed the limitations of knowledge and action and considered technology to be a labyrinth prone to divest one’s identity.Bacon thought that knowledge could be venom that made humankind swell,and the antidote was charity.Bacon’s quote is not so much an encouragement to take from nature as it is a way to learn from nature and to take a practical approach to happiness.

关 键 词：BACON KNOWLEDGE POWER action NATURE 

分 类 号：K107[历史地理—历史学]