A student in my history of psychology class asked why Bacon chose to label the sources of error in obtaining knowledge Idols of the Cave, Idols of the Tribe, etc. I didn't have an answer for her. Can anyone help me? Nancy

-- Nancy Innis (ninnis@uwo.ca), January 16, 2002

Answers

If the questions pertains to "Idols" per se, my copy of Lord Bacon's Novum Organum (edited by Joseph Devey, publication date 1911) includes a footnote on pp. 19-20 that is relevant.

"It is argued by Hallam, with some appearance of truth, that idols is not the correct translation of [word in Greek alphabet that I cannot type here], from which the original idola is manifestly derived; but that Bacon used it in the literal sense attached to it by the Greeks, as a species of illuson, or false appearance, and not as a species of divinity before which the mind bows down."

If the question is meant to address more specifically the four idols Bacon described, that may require a lengthy answer, as he devoted several pages to their description and discussion. However, here are some excerpts from the same source that may enable some understanding.

Idols of the tribe - "The idols of the tribe are inherent in human nature and the very tribe or race of man; for man's sense is falsely asserted to be the standard of things....(p. 20). [They]...arise either from the uniformity of the constitution of mans spirit, or its prejudices, or its limited faculties or restless agitations, or from the interference of the passions, or the incompetence of the senses...." (p. 28).

Idols of the den - "The idols of the den are those of each individual; for everybody (in addition to the common errors in the race of man) has his own individual den or cavern, which intercepts or corrupts the light of nature, either from his own peculiar and singular disposition, or from, his education and intercourse with others, or from his reading, and thre authority acquired by those whom he reverences and admires, or from the different impressions produced on the mind, as it happens to be preoccupied and predisposed...." (p. 21)

Idols of the market - "...formed by the reciprocal intercourses and society of man with man....for men converse by means of language, but words are formed at will of the generality, and there arises from a bad and unapt formation of words a wonderful obstruction to the mind. Nor can definitions and explanations with which learned men are won't to guard and protect themselves in some instances afford a complete remedy - words manifestly force the understanding, throw everything into confusion, and lead mankind into vain and innumerable controversies and fallacies." (p. 21)

Idols of the theater - "...there are idol which have crept into men's minds from the various dogmas of peculiar systems of philosophy, and also from the perverted rules of demonstration...for we regard all the systems of philosophy hitherto received or imagined, as so many plays brought out and performed, creating fictitious and theatrical worlds." (p. 22)

-- Roger K. Thomas (rkthomas@uga.edu), January 18, 2002.

[Posted for ASW by cdg.]

One answer is in the Oxford English Dictionary, online edition. It appears that Bacon made use of the older sense of "idol" as "phantom" joined to the idea of "mental fantasy." Of course, he was usually writing in Latin, so he used "idolum". Here are the relevant OED entries:

.idol ('aId(@)l), sb. Forms: A. 3 ydele, idele, 4 idel. ß. 4-6 ydol(e, 5-6 ydoll, 5-7 idoll, 6 idole, 4- idol. [ME. a. OFr. id(e)le, and idole, ad. late L.

iŻdoŻl-um (also iŻdol-um in Prudentius c 400, Sedulius c 470), image, form, spectre, apparition, in eccl. use `idol', a. Gr. ei'´dwlon image, phantom, idea, fancy, likeness, in LXX `idol', f. ei'doj form, shape. The early OFr. idele, idle (11th c.), represent the Latin 'iŻ&sd.dolum,the accentuation following that of the Greek. The current Fr. idole was adapted in 13th c. from L. iŻdoŻlum.]The order of appearance of the senses in English does not correspond to their original development in Greek, where the sequence was apparently: `appearance, phantom, unsubstantial form, image in water or a mirror, mental image, fancy, material image or statue', and finally, in Jewish and Christian use, `image of a false god'. In English this last was, under religious influence, the earliest, and in ME. the only sense; hence (as also in Fr.) came sense 2. These are the only popular uses of the word. The other uses are 16th c. adoptions of earlier Greek senses, often however coloured by association with sense 1.

6 A mental fiction; a phantasy or fancy.

1577 Vautrouillier Luther on Ep. Gal. 123 In their heart they stablish, not the righteousnes of the lawe..but a mere fantasie and an Idoll of the lawe. 1684 tr. Agrippa's Van. Arts 335 They frame to themselves..so many Idols and Phantomes of their own Imaginations about divine things. 1899 Findlay in Expositor Feb. 94 They hold and grasp the very God in Christ, and are no longer mocked with vain idols and phantoms of blessedness.

b Logic. A false mental image or conception; a false or misleading notion; a fallacy; = idolum 2.

[1620 Bacon: see Idolum. ] 1678 Cudworth Intell. Syst. i. v. § 5. 884 But this is a mere idolum specus, an idol of the cave or den. 1678 Cudworth Intell. Syst. 886

This is but another idol of the Atheists den. 1733 Shaw tr. Bacon's Nov. Org. i. Aph. xxxix, There are four Kinds of Idols that possess the Mind of Man... We will..call the first Kind, Idols of the Tribe; the second, Idols of the Den; the third, Idols of the Market; and the fourth, Idols of the Theatre. 1785 Reid Intell. Powers

vi. viii. 652 To every bias of the understanding, by which a man may be misled in judging, or drawn into error, Lord Bacon gives the name of idol. 1877 Conder Bas.

Faith ii. 81 Impenetrability, so confidently assumed as a self-evident primary property of matter..is seen to be an idol of our imagination.

1.|| idolum, -on (aI'd@Ul@m, -Qn). Pl. idola (also 7 -aes, -ums). [L. iŻdoŻlum, a. Gr. ei'´dwlon idol. Cf. also eidolon, and see idol 6, 7.]

1 An image or unsubstantial appearance; a spectre or phantom; a mental image, an idea.

1619 Purchas Microcosmus lviii. 568 The Constitution of the Soule, which is conflate of the Mind, Spirit, and Animall Soule, or Idolum. 1647 H. More Song of Soul iii. ii. xxxi, If like be known by like, then must the mind Innate idolums in it self contain, To judge the forms she doth imprinted find Upon occasions. 1857 T. E. Webb Intellectualism Locke iv. 68 If by the inadvertent utterance of the wrong spell the magician has evoked a host of idola, he has himself furnished the counter-spell by which they are to be exorcised.

2 A false mental image or conception; a fallacy.

[1620 Bacon Nov. Org. i. xxxix, Quatuor sunt genera Idolorum quĉ mentes humanas obsedent. Iis (docendi gratiâ) nomina imposuimus; vt primum genus, Idola Tribû.s; secundum, Idola specû.s; tertium, Idola Fori; quartum, Idola Theatri vocentur.]

1640 G. Watts tr. Bacon's Adv. Learn. v. iv. §3 As for the Elenchs of Images or Idolaes; certainly Idolaes are the profoundest Fallacies of the mind of man. 1654 Whitlock Zootomia 255 To come to the second Bench of Censurers, fitted with peevish exclusive Notions, or Idola made by Education, Tradition, etc. 1678 Cudworth Intell. Syst. i. v. §1. 679 This opinion..can be accounted no other than an idolum specus (as some affect to phrase it: note-Lord Bacon in his Novum Organon) or a prejudice of men's minds. 1865 Lecky Ration. (1878) I. 403 Bacon..was pre-eminently noted for his classification of the idola or distorting influences that act on the mind. 1874 Sayce Compar. Philol. ii. 63 What were intended to be mental landmarks become what Bacon expressively termed Idola, empty assumptions and misconceptions.

-- Andrew S. Winston (awinston@uoguelph.ca), January 18, 2002.

[Posted for WRS by cdg.]

I gather Bacon calls them idols because they lead human understanding away from the truth, which is to be found in unvarnished experience. The following is taken from

http://www.utm.edu/research/iep/b/bacon.htm

One of the most important of Bacon's beliefs, and the one for which he was most widely known, is his idea of the Four Idols. These Idols are what he believes to be the primary hindrance to our efforts in studying nature. The first are the Idols of the Tribe. These have their foundation in human nature. Humans falsely assume their perceptions are based on universals when in fact their perceptions are based purely on individual views. The second are The Idols of the Cave. These are distinguished from the Idols of the Tribe and deal with the individual, for every person perceives things by means of his own individual nature. One's personality and experiences make them see things in ways which they may not be. The third are The Idols of the Marketplace. These Idols deal with the language of people. Because of the errancy in choosing which words to use in order to convey a certain meaning, one may express the wrong idea to another. The fourth are The Idols of the Theatre. These Idols deal with the dogmas of all philosophies. What is already established and believed to be true may not be. One cannot be biased toward any popular belief system.

-- Warren R. Street (Warren@CWU.EDU), January 18, 2002.

[Posted for DD by cdg.]

Here's what is in Baldwin's _Dictionary (1901) on-line under "Idol (Baconian):

"Idol (Baconian). Prejudices natural to man, whether native or acquired, which hinder the discovery and advancement of truth; used first (Lat. idola) by Giordano Bruno (1582 ff.).

The list of 'idols' is given by Bacon in his Nov. Org., i. 38 ff. They are cited in concise quotation in Eisler, Wörterb. d. philos. Begriffe, 'Idol.' (J.M.B.- E.M.)"

-- Dan Denis (dand@yorku.ca), January 18, 2002.

[Posted for TF by cdg.]

Howard Warren's (1934) Dictionary of Psychology, p. 131 presents the following:

"idol=(logic) a prejudice, usually due to social tradition, which hampers the discovery of truth. [Bacon, in the Novum Organum, distinguished four kinds of idols, the idola tribus, idola specus, idola fori, and idola teatri. The first are common human prejudices, such as anthropomorphisms of various kinds; the second are prejudices due to special development and occupations of the individual, such as the tendency of a biologist toward biologism, a mathematician toward mathematicism, etc.; the third are those due to social intercourse, such as the tendency to repeat current appreciations uncritically and mechanically; the fourth is the tendency to systematic dogmatism, scepticism of mysticism]."

A similar definition/distinction appears in English & English (1958) A Comprehensive dictionary of psychological and psychanaltical terms. p. 250.

-- Tom Fagan (tom-fagan@MAIL.PSYC.MEMPHIS.EDU), January 18, 2002.