 BACON AS A MORALIST

 NOT AN IDEAL MORALIST

 HIS MORALITY IS A GOOD ADVICE FOR
SATAN’S KINGDOM
By: kamran Aslam Lecturer (English)
INTRODUCTION :
A moralist is a person who distinguishes between what is right and what is wrong
and urges human beings to tread on the right path only.Bacon is not a true moralist. His
morality is a saleable morality. He is a moralist-cum-worldly wise man. Bacon
appears as a moralist in his essays, for he preaches high moral principles and lays down
valuable guidelines for human conduct. Some of his essays show him as a true lover and
preacher of high ethical codes and conducts.

MAN OF RENAISSANCE:

In spite of all given examples, one cannot deny the fact that Bacon was a “Man
of Renaissance”. He had a deep insight in human nature. He knew that man is naturally
more prone to evil than good. He was a clear-eyed realist who saw the weakness in
human nature and drawbacks of human conduct and also knew that man is not capable
of acting according to noble set of ‘ideals’. Though Bacon’s morality was greater than
that of average man’s, yet it was not of the highest order. The matter of good and right
was important for him but not if it proved too costly in worldly terms. On one hand, he
preached high moral principles and on the other hand, he also expressed a mean
capacity by compromising upon those morals for the sake of worldly success.

ADVICE FOR SATAN’S KINGDOM:

For this reason, William Blake, a spiritual poet says about his essays:

“Good advice for Satan’s Kingdom.”

Blake considers any utilitarian advice contrary to God’s ways, but Bacon does not bother
for that. He considers this world more important and striving after the success in this
world is equally important. Bacon discusses man as he “appears” and not as he “ought
to appear”.

MORALITY IN HIS ESSAYS:

OF ENVY:

For instance, in “Of Envy”, he puts:

“A man that hath no virtue in himself, ever envieth virtue in others.”

OF GOODNESS AND GOODNESS OF NATURE:

 Then, in his essay “Of Goodness and Goodness of Nature” he says:

“But in charity there is no excess; neither can angel or man come in

danger by it.”

OF JUDICATURE:

Again, he appears to be a lover of justice in his essay “Of Judicature”:

“The principal duty of a judge is to suppress force and fraud.”

OF GREAT PLACES:

In his essay “Of Great Places” Bacon certainly shows a high morality when he condemns
or at least dislikes the practice of ‘wrongs’ on part of high officials.

“In place there is license to do good and evil; where of the latter
is a curse.”

Afterwards he appreciates the power of doing good.

“But power to do good, is true and lawful end of aspiring.”

But besides these moral approaches, he also supports the idea of adopting certain
disloyal means to reach a high position.

“It is good to side a man’s self whilst he is in the rising and to balance himself
when he is placed”.

HIS UTILITARIANISM:

As elaborated by Jeremy Bentham and James Mill; the aim was said to be the grat
happiness for the greatest numbers is called utilitarianism.

“Someone who believes that value of a thing depends upon its utility is called
utilitarian.”

Like a moralist, Bacon preaches the noble dimensions of great place, but with this
statement his purely utilitarian approach also comes forth with all its power.

OF TRUTH:

In the essay “Of Truth” he appears to be a ‘genuine’ admirer of truth and seems to
install the love of truth in his readers.
 “It is heaven upon earth, to have man’s mind move in charity, rest in
providence and turn upon the poles of truth.”

But he also points out that

“Falsehood is like an ‘alloy’ in gold and silver, which makes the metal work
better even though it reduces, the value of the metal”.

He says:

“A mixture of a lie doth ever add pleasure.”

By putting this he has diluted all the effect of his own words said in the praise of the
truth.

OF REVENGE:

One can find the same strange mixture of high ethics and utilitarianism in the
essay “Of Revenge”. In this essay Bacon condemns revenge by saying:

“Revenge is a kind of wild justice.”

And

“One who studieth revenge, keeps his own wounds green.”

He expressed that there is no place of revenge in high society and it is a high quality to
forgive an enemy. Hereafter, Bacon spoils the effects by putting that in some cases man
is justified in taking revenge, if the avenger can save his skin from the eyes of the law.
He says:

“But then let a man take heed the revenge be such as there is now law to
punish; else a man’s enemy is still forehand”.

In his essay “Of Suitors” Bacon says that a man should refuse to undertake a suit if it is
by giving a false hope to the petitioner and that one should not demand undue reward
for his services. Those who employ crooked methods to win suits are the worst offenders
of society. But he also says that if a patron wants to favour the undeserving party, he
should bring both the parties to a compromise for this would be less dangerous for him.
So, to Bacon, morality and ethical codes seem inferior to worldly considerations.

OF SIMULATION AND DISSIMULATION:

Another example of the strange mixture of morality and prudence.

 “The best position and temperature is; to have openness in fame and opinion;
secrecy in habits; dissimulation in seasonal use; and power to feign, if there be
no remedy.”

MORALITY TINGED WITH PRUDENCE:

Bacon’s morality has also been described as a cynical kind of wisdom. This
impression is confirmed by even those essays which deal with strong private relations
between men. “Of Friendship”, “Of Parents and Children”, “Of Marriage and Single life”
and “Of Love”, all depict a certain kind of utilitarianism and worldly benefit. Here Bacon
expresses a definite failure of emotions, for he takes the pure matters of heart in terms
of their uses and abuses.

CONCLUSION:

In short, though Bacon’s essays portray morality and high ethical standards, yet he
does not appear as an ideal moralist and these are but the “flashes of morality”. He is
not a true moralist. His essays are good advice for a Satan’s kingdom.