I'm trying to compare Aristotle and Bacon.
The essay is just a bunch of notes so far.
When I finish it I'll post it.
If anybody cares to point anything out feel free.

Bacon's Attack on Aristotle
Francis Bacon was among philosophers who felt that the ways of
scientific thought must change from those of the past that were
championed such classical greats as Aristotle. Bacon's "Four Idols"
found in the Novum Organum is an argument against Aristotle's "six
treatises" in the Organum. Aristotle's scientific method is referred
to as deductive. Bacon wished to dislodge the entrenched ideas of
Aristotle by using a new scientific method called inductive.
"[Aristotle] …made a systematic study of the ways in which argument
form determines validity in syllogisms, and of the ways in which
arguments can sound persuasive but actually be invalid"( Baker).
His [Bacon's] purpose in Novum Organum (The new organon) published
in 1620, was to replace the old organon, or instrument of thought,
Aristotle's treatises on logic and thought. Despite Aristotle's
pervasive influence on sixteenth- and seventeenth-century thought –
his texts were used in virtually all schools and colleges – Bacon
thought that Aristotelian deductive logic produced error. In Novum
Organum he tried to set the stage for a new attitude toward logic
and scientific inquiry. He proposed a system of reasoning usually
referred to as induction. This quasi-scientific method involves
collecting and listing observations from nature. Once a mass of
observations is gathered and organized, Bacon believed, the truth
about what is observed will become apparent. (Jacobus 417)
Bacon points out short comings of Aristotle that would still hold
true today, but he makes a mistake of thinking that inductive
reasoning technique is the sole method of scientific thought, and
that it could always produce an accurate answer, so that it must
superior to deductive reasoning championed by Aristotle.
To get a better grasp of the idea, you must understand the
difference between the two broad methods of reasoning, deductive and
inductive approaches to scientific thinking. The deductive method is
referred to as the "top-down" method. In Prior Analytics Aristotle
states that "a deduction is speech in which, certain things having
been supposed, something different from those supposed results of
necessity because of their being so".
Nowadays scientists will use a theory or a belief to tell them what
the facts "should be," but if it does become clear that the facts
are not what a theory or a belief predicts, they will eventually
change their theory or belief. In the Middle-Ages and the
Renaissance the word of the Bible or Aristotle was "good enough."
It could actually be dangerous to question the "Established Truth."
The inductive method of steps would go from observation, pattern,
initial hypothesis, to theory. Bacon wasn't right nor was he
completely wrong, by discounting deductive reasoning, the prevailing
method of use in his time. I think his biggest problem was that he
didn't see that both methods should be used in a cycle, to keep
reverting between the two styles.
Bacon was bucking the system with his idea, for long held was the
teaching of Aristotle as the gospel. I think of it is a funnel, from
the large opening end you would start with deductive.
Bacon stressed gathering "facts" and "evidence" first, and building
theories later. Nowadays scientific thinkers are more likely to
admit that they are often guided by imagination, intuition and grand
theories that they only back up with facts later. But modern
science is no longer dominated by religion they way it was in
Bacon's day (The Renaissance). Bacon waged war his whole life
against too much "deductive" reasoning because he was born into
an "Age of Faith" when knowledge was "official" only if it came from
authorities like the Bible and Aristotle. ("Francis Bacon")
So as to say the deductive is the steps going in the order of
theory, hypothesis, observation, and finally confirmation. Simply
put Logic is traditionally divided into deductive reasoning,
concerned with what follows logically from given premises, and
inductive reasoning, concerned with how we can go from some number
of observed events to a reliable generalization (Smith).
Bacon and Aristotle both held the belief that experiment and
experience of the senses is the only true source of knowledge; but
neither invented the scientific method of inquiring into nature
(Jacobus 417); neither of them had even developed a method of
testing a hypothesis.
"He [Aristotle] made a systematic study of the ways in which
argument form determines validity in syllogisms, and of the ways in
which arguments can sound persuasive but actually be invalid
(Baker);" proof of this is found in the Organon.


Bacon used a straight forward approach while writing the Four Idols,
called enumeration (Jacobus). I have to admit that I'm hesitant in
trusting any ideas coming from a man that lost his high position in
society due to a bribery scam. One of the first things I found
confusing was his use of the world "idol," I haven't ever seen it
used in such a manner. The definition he used for idol must have
been along the line of the word illusion or fake; with this in mind
his title would read the four illusions. In this writing he points
out short comings of Aristotle that would still hold true today, but
he makes a mistake of thinking that inductive reasoning technique is
the sole method of scientific thought, and that it could always
produce an accurate answer, so that it must superior to deductive
reasoning championed by Aristotle.
Bacon builds a vocabulary that isn't too hard to understand;
it was translated from Latin. Using the enumeration method he goes
about explain each illusion and then sums it all up. The writing
isn't full of poetic garbage; it is clear and straight forward
without too many analogies. His four illusions are easier to
understand if taken by the time frame that they were written.
Aristotle's work is translated from Greek, which would seem to a
fairly reliable translation. Aristotle wasn't surrounded by scandal
as Bacon was. What would make Aristotle's work suspect would that
most of it wasn't to be found until after his death; some of it
would be discovered until the twelfth-century AD. Much of Aristotle
work wasn't written with the intent of being published.
It would seem that Bacon was breaking ground in psychology and
cultural understanding of those around him. The hindrance in man's
thinking became apparent upon reading the different illusions Bacon
points out.
Idols of the Tribe, means trouble learning that is based on human
nature. People are too shallow in thinking, tend to look for
patterns to stuff things into, senses can fool, believe the more
palatable, tend generalize, search for only evidence that proves the
idea.
Idols of the Cave, means the trouble learning by the individual.
Individuals may prefer antiquity, while others prefer novelty. An
individual may search for an idea that will support prior
conclusions. The individual might prefer differences, while another
might prefer similarities; this example is very similar to one in
the tribe, just that it is different because it is on an individual
level.
Idols of the Marketplace, meaning People have a great imagination to
name things that don't even exist. Confusion due to a word being
able to have more then one meaning is very common.
Idols of the Theater, meaning a misunderstanding due to the
philosophy and theology, because of tradition that man can hold so
dear.
Another contrast is that unlike Aristotle, Bacon did not want
develop school of learning. Aristotle was a philosopher, scientist,
lecturer, researcher, writer, teacher, and a politician; while Bacon
spent the majority of his life only in philosophy and politics.
Aristotle met his death while studying marine life, a popular belief
is that it may have not been an accident but a homicide. Bacon on
the other hand died due to an accident while performing the only
experiment he ever attempted. Aristotle and Bacon both were of the
higher social class and were very well educated.
Aristotle left behind the earliest written formal works of logic
that we are aware today. To add to the greatness of the achievement,
the works have withstood two millennia without significant change in
spirit (Smith). Bacon never did debunk the teachings of Aristotle
but he did shed light on some of the works that needed improvement…
there is no work that is perfect.
The only ancient writer for whom he [Bacon] did have respect was
Democritus, whose materialism he adopted ("Sir Francis Bacon").

Specialization also nurtures a fetishistic attachment to one
subject, activity, or method. Francis Bacon, a founder of modern
scientific thought, was aware of those dangers. In Novum Organum,
published in 1620, he sought to reconstruct the sciences. The book
is also a profound analysis of the ways in which the mind can go
wrong. Of specialization, he wrote: (Stimpson)

Men become attached to certain particular sciences and speculations,
either because they fancy themselves the authors and inventors
thereof, or because they have bestowed the greatest pains upon them
and become most habituated to them. But men of this kind, if they
betake themselves to philosophy and contemplations of a general
character, distort and color them in obedience to their former
fancies; a thing especially to be noted in Aristotle, who made his
natural philosophy a mere bondservant to his logic, thereby
rendering it contentious and well nigh useless. (Bacon 425)


... one can imagine learning how Aristotle, working but a few
decades after the codification of Genesis, changed from being one of
the greatest polymaths and interdisciplinarians who ever lived to
being the object of Francis Bacon's scorn. (Stimpson)

Aristotle's work can't be easily summed up in a few pages. All areas
of Aristotle's text have been found in other articles so much that
nothing can be removed from Aristotle's text unless it were at the
cost of losing entire categories of his work. Scholars have argued
over Aristotle's work since it was first made over two thousands
years ago. Even Bacon's attacks could not undue the lasting
impression that Aristotle has left. Aristotle's work still stands at
the center logical theory.

Works Cited
Bacon, Francis. Novum Organum Rpt in <http://www.constitution.org/>.
Bacon, Francis. "The Four Idols." Rpt. in A World of Ideas: 6th ed.
By Lee A. Jacobus Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2002. 420-431.
Baird, Forrest. "Introduction to the Age of Reason (the
Enlightenment)" 2000 <http://www.whitworth.edu>.
Baird, Forrest. "Introduction to Ancient Greek Thought" 2000
<http://www.whitworth.edu>.
Baker, Lyman. "Selections from Francis Bacon's." 23 Sep 1999
<http://www-personal.ksu.edu/>.
"Francis Bacon." 17 Mar 2003 <http://literacyproject.org/>.
Jacobus, Lee A. A World of Ideas: 6th ed. Boston: Bedford/St.
Martins, 2002.
"Logic" 25 Mar 2004 <http://en.wikipedia.org/>.
"Sir Francis Bacon." 10 May 2003 <http://main.amu.edu.pl/>.
Smith, Robin. "Aristotle's Logic." 05 Oct 2000
<http://plato.stanford.edu/>.
Stimpson, Cathrine. "General Education for Graduate Education" 01
Nov 2002 <http://www.nyu.edu>.
Turner, William."Logic" Rpt in Catholic Encyclopedia: Logic 15 Sep
2003 <http://www.newadvent.org/>.
Waggoner, Ben "Aristotle" 09 Jun 1996
<http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/>.