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Article ID: CBB274771071

Fascination and Action at a Distance in Francis Bacon (2022)

Early Science and Medicine: A Journal for the Study of Science, Technology and Medicine in the Pre-modern Period
Volume: 27
Issue: 5
Pages: 403-425

DOI: 10.1163/15733823-20220055

URI: https://brill.com/view/journals/esm/27/5/article-p403_2.xml

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Epistemology Natural philosophy Experimental method Natural magic Imagination Action at a distance 17th century 16th century Bacon, Francis, 1st Baron Verulam

Throughout his writings, Francis Bacon shows a great interest in the power of the imagination, both on other minds and on other bodies, a crucial part of natural magic. Convinced of the overall value of magic, Bacon nevertheless takes issue with the corrupt state into which he saw this discipline as having descended, overrun with false theories and invented stories. Bacon’s reform of experimental natural philosophy includes a naturalisation of magic, and this can be best illustrated when we look at his conception of fascination. In this paper, I show that the characteristics of this naturalisation are: (1) the definition of the object of study and the classification of phenomena; (2) the use of models and analogical thinking when the topic under study is difficult to observe; (3) the introduction of measurements and quantification of natural phenomena; (4) the need for replicability and diversification of experiments; and (5) the rejection of explanations in terms of occult qualities and their replacement with explanations in terms of the motion(s) of the spiritual matter emitted from the active body, which is impressed on the motion of the spiritual matter of the passive body.

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Article Rodolfo Garau; Doina-Cristina Rusu (2022) Action at a Distance in Pre-Newtonian Natural Philosophy: An Introduction. Early Science and Medicine: A Journal for the Study of Science, Technology and Medicine in the Pre-modern Period (pp. 397-402). unapi

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