Overview of Francis Bacon’s Four Idols of the Mind

An idol is defined as a person or thing that is deeply admired, cherished, or revered. In Francis Bacon’s book Novum Organon, he classified four intellectual fallacies of his time, which he called ‘idols’. These idols were distinguished as: the idols of the tribe, the idols of the cave, the idols of the marketplace, and the idols of the theatre. Bacon reminds us, our mind can compromise our capacity to think logically and accurately. I believe Francis Bacon’s observations are valid. We may not even realize we are being bias, which is exactly the reason for Bacon’s theory. Bacon’s idols still apply even to this day, for the reason that people are victims of unconscious bias. However, the four idols of the mind, work together to remind us of the multiple ways bias can lurk in the background of everyday experiences. Francis Bacon’s idols of the tribe are dishonest concepts ingrained in the mind of the human race.

This means these concepts belong to the whole of the human race. Bacon stated that this bias is, “inherent in human nature and the very tribe or race of men, for man’s sense is falsely asserted to be the standard of things.” Because these deceptive beliefs are automatically in our minds, we have a common tendency to distort how things look to us. An example of this I have been exposed to would be, people wanting expensive things. For example an Apple iPhone or MacBook, brand-name clothing, and accessories. My thinking has been influenced by the idols of the trobe before. Within the last year, I bought a MacBook, Airpods, and recently a new iPhone came out that I have seen others with and it makes me want to buy it. Another part of the idols of the tribe are our senses. My view of the world can be fooled by my senses, everyone can be fooled by their senses. If one were to lose a sense, one may become stronger.

However, even if one sense is enhanced, we are not hearing, seeing, or feeling the full picture. The idols of the tribe differ from the other idols as it encompasses the masses, it is not unique and distinguished. Bacon’s idols of the cave, however, is a person's personal experiences, education, thought habits, and interests, working together to form our interpretation or understanding of things. Bacon said “Everyone has a cave or den of his own, which refracts and discolours the light of nature, owing either to his own proper and peculiar nature…” In simpler terms, this means, an individual's thoughts reside and roam this cave or den and are adapted in various ways, ranging from education, habits, environment, and accident.

For example, a sociologist sees everything through the den in which they reside, social interactions. A personal habit of mine would be jumping to conclusions. This distorts my thinking because by jumping to conclusions I am not thinking clearly, or basing my thinking on any logical facts or evidence. Current role models that affect my age group would be younger celebrities that we grew up watching. For example, Ariana Grande and Justin Beiber. These are universal heroes. However, other people may have role models and heroes who share the same passions. For example, Greta Thunberg and climate change or Nyle Dimarco who is an activist for the deaf community. The idols of the cave has a different influence on each individual, similar to the following idols. Bacon’s idols of the marketplace are errors due to the careless use of words. Bacon stated “the ill and unfit choice of words wonderfully obstructs the understanding.” The “sloppy” use of words including, ill-defined and ambiguous words, hinders one's ability to understand the concept at hand. This can be shown through the use of slang words and politicians. When younger generations create “slang” and uses it around the older generations, confusion can develop. For example, when someone says, “spill the tea” they are not speaking literally. But rather, they are about to exchange gossip. I notice a lot of people misunderstand or are mislead by inaccurate use of words or language, in both the news and politics.

In political debates, the candidate may use large words, if they do, they are seen as intelligent and to have “outspoken” their opponent. The idols of the marketplace affects people all over the globe, as they exposed to a “sloppy” use of words daily. Similarly, Bacon’s idols of the theatre also has a daily affect on individuals. The idols of the theatre is when one blindly accepts an idea or system. Bacon stated, “All the received systems are but so many stage plays, representing worlds of their own creation after an unreal and scenic fashion. In more simple terms, you believe in what was taught to you by your family or anyone else in your microsystem because that is all you’ve ever been told. In my life, I was taught to believe there is a God and that I should follow a religion. This was taught to me because my mother and her family went to church when she grew up. However, I expressed my doubts, not willing to blindly believe in something I could not prove did or did not exist. People who follow the same religion often have similar thought processes. They believe that when something goes wrong to pray, to put faith in God. This makes them feel comforted and safe, therefore, they have a positive outlook on life. The idols of the theatre are systems not questioned by the masses, and are believed until further exploration. Francis Bacon’s idols of the mind are valid, and applied in individuals everyday life. The idols of the tribe affects everyone in the aspect that, “the human understanding is like a false mirror…” Our senses and influences are distorted by the way we put trust into ourselves.

We cannot hide from these biases as they are “inherent in human nature.” The idols of the cave differentiate with the person based on their experiences. This idol is valid because everyone has a bias based on what other people have ingrained in their mind, conscious or not. The idols of the marketplace are easily placed on us, as “sloppy” language is put in front of us on a daily basis. This causes a misconception in many areas, including politics. The idols of the theatre are biases instilled in us from birth. They are systems unquestioned by the masses, and only explored by those who further study the belief. These idols of the mind makes us aware of the fact that our thinking can become distorted. With Bacon’s idols of the mind, we can hopefully rectify our biases and avoid distortions in our thinking.