LIB. i. 3942. 



C 2l 



atque in ipsa tribu sou gente hominum 40 . Falso enim 

 asseritur, sensum human um esse rnensuram rerum ; 

 quin contra, oranes perceptiones, tain sensus quam 

 mentis, sunt ex analogia hominis, non ex analogia uni- 

 versi 41 . Estque intellectus Immanus instar speculi 

 insequalis ad radios rerum, qui suam naturam natura3 

 rerum immiscet, eamque distorquet et inficit. 



XLII. 



Idola specus sunt idola hominis individui 4 -. Habet 

 enim unusquisque (prater aberrationes naturse humanse 

 in genere) specum sive cavernam quanclam individuam, 

 quse lumen naturae frangit et corrumpit ; vel propter 

 naturam cnjusque propriam et singularem ; vel propter 



40 The Idola Tribus are &quot; those 

 general prejudices which arise from 

 the infirmity of Human Nature it 

 self.&quot; For even the old axiom o 

 ITIKTI doKel, TOVT eivai &amp;lt;pci[jLfv (Ar. 

 Eth. x. 2.) must be taken with 

 limitation. It affords a presump 

 tion of truth in all cases ; in some 

 (those in which all mankind may 

 fairly be supposed able to judge, as 

 in some Moral questions) it gives a 

 Moral certainty. But still man is in 

 no sense perfect or navrcav perpov, 

 and if left to himself generates a 

 multitude of errors. Cf. Adv. of 

 Learning, p. 195 (Pickering). 



41 &quot; Ex analogia hominis &c.&quot; We 

 are wont to refer all our perceptions 

 to man as their measure; and re 

 gard them with relation to him (as 

 people do when they argue much 

 from Final Causes), and not in their 

 relation to the Universe of which 

 they form parts. In this recall of 

 Man from himself to the world, 

 Bacon shews a spirit very unlike 

 that of the Positive&quot; school, who 

 have claimed him as one of them 

 selves. 



42 The Idola Specus. Those pre 

 judices which are peculiar to indi 

 viduals, beside and beyond those 

 common to Human Nature. These 

 are, (i) those which arise from dif 

 ferences of temperament, (2) those 

 due to education, (3) to the pursuit 

 of particular studies, (4) to differ 

 ences in the temporary condition of 

 each man s mind. 



There are some good remarks in 

 D. Stewart s Phil, of the Human 

 Mind, vol. I. Introd. ii. i. on those 

 &quot; Idola&quot; which are connected with 

 Education, cf. also the De Augm. 

 Sc. V. 4. 



The name Specus was suggested 

 by Pluto s Cave, as we see by refer 

 ence to the Advancement of Learn 

 ing, p. 194, where Bacon speaks of 

 &quot; that feigned supposition that Plato 

 maketh of the Cave.&quot; (Plato, Rep. 

 vii. i.) But the parallel does not by 

 any means hold throughout. The 

 Cave of Plato contains all men who 

 do not attain to the knowledge of 

 Ideal Truths ; and would in fact 

 include all the &quot; Idola.&quot; Bacon 

 calls these &quot; Idola Specus ;&quot; else- 



