A History of Western Philosophy

Russell claims that “Almost everything that distinguishes the modern world from earlier centuries is attributable to science”; in turn, “the new conceptions that science introduced profoundly influenced modern philosophy” (525). The four men most responsible for the formation of modern science were Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo, and Newton. The new science had several effects on philosophy. First, it was now understood that the laws of physics did not necessarily mimic the movement of animals; instead, the world was understood to work more like a machine. Second, scientists ceased to look for purpose in nature. Finally, the new scientific mastery brought about an attitude of human pride and desire for power.

Francis Bacon (1561-1626) was important as the “founder of [the] modern inductive method” (541) and as the one who made scientific procedure logical and systematic. Russell finds Bacon’s pure philosophy “unsatisfactory,” yet his contributions to science were indelible. Bacon is best known for the axiom “knowledge is power,” and he was among the first thinkers to suggest that philosophy and science could be used to help man gain “mastery over the forces of nature” (542). This outlook would become more prominent throughout the modern period.