Bacon, Locke, and Descartes: The Epistemology Poster Boys

     This week in my Rhetoric of Literature " American Environmentalism" class, I learned about an interesting topic that deals with rhetoric. I learned about epistemology. The subject was discussed in  chapter eight of the text book tittled " Epistemology and the Modern Rhetorics." The term epistemology is described as the study of knowledge, the categorization of the mind. Through my reading of the chapter I managed to learn about three famous philosophers who are connected through their pursuit of exploring the practise of rhetoric. The three philosophers were Descartes, Francis Bacon, and John Locke.

     Each of these thinkers approached rhetoric using some kind of epistemology. I will speak the truth that I was aware of Descartes, Locke, and Bacon in my past English studies, but I was still forgetful of each of the philosophies that they developed. After reading chapter eight, I remember how much the three men approached rhetoric, built their thoughts using epistemology, and changed the way that we, as a whole, think today.

     The first philosopher that i will discuss is named Rene Descartes. He was a brilliant, french mathematician who attempted to use the method of solving math problems to explain the world through philosophy, or vice versa. He contributed to epistemology, and how people think today when he came up with the phrase " I think, therefore I am." I was aware of the phrase by Descartes for the longest time. Even now I am learning about the meaning of the phrase. The way that I see it, as long as I am able to think and know anything, I am an actual person. I exist in the world, and I keep on thinking to still exist in the world that I live in . I'm not sure if Descartes was spuing was brilliant or B.S., but I found it very clever. In the text, Descartes was a firm believer in logical thinking when the chapter reads, " He believed that reason, as opposed to imagination or the senses, should supply us with the evidence we use to make claims about existence in the world" ( Smith, 208).
     After reading this, I can understand that would approach the world this way for being a mathematician, but unsure if he was stepping outside of the box, or inside the box to determine the world around him. What do you think?

     Moving on, the next philosopher I will talk about is another famous person named Francis Bacon. He is one of the many great thinkers of the seventeenth century, and student of epistemology in Great Britain. Bacon has made many contributions to the practise of thought and speaking. He developed four faculties for people to think. As it's listed on page 213 of the " Rhetoric" text, Bacon's four examples are: 1. inquire and invent 2. examine and judge 3. recall ideas and maintain custody over them 4. transmit thought in language. To make it easier to understand, I will say that Bacon was not very supportive of rhetoric. Instead " Bacon argued that eloquence prevails in civic life" ( Smith, 213). I believe Bacon suggests that speakers be charming and likable when giving speeches. It's an admirable;e tool today.

     The final philosopher that I will talk about is another English thinker named John Locke. The most important contribution that Locke made to Epistemology was improving on Bacon's already influential ideas. John Locke started out as a physician and agreed with Francis Bacon that mind was capable of a lot of things. Locke agreed with Descartes on his view of approaching the world. His study of Descartes had him contribute categories of knowledge dealing with Epistemology. As chapter eight lists them in the text, Locke stated that " knowledge of self was intuitive"( 216), " knowledge is demonstrative"( 216), " knowledge is sensitive" ( 216), and "humans are born with tabula rasa" ( 216). The term tabula rasa refers to entering the world with a clean slate.
     The three philosophers Bacon, Locke, and Descartes changed the way we have approached thought. They are also serious  contributors to our understanding of rhetoric. So to sum up their influence on me, I will say, " They think, therefore we know."