Anchoring & affordances: the modern afterlives of Francis Bacon's theory of the idols

Abstract

This dissertation considers the modern afterlives of Francis Bacon’s theory of the idols, a theory which the English philosopher and statesman introduced in his famous Novum Organum (1620) and which has proven itself to be a durable and versatile anchor for modern scholars’ ideas about what constitutes critical thinking. It is such acts of anchoring – understood as creative appropriations, i.e. instances of intentional and active engagement with Bacon’s theory of the idols, where Bacon’s theory is not simply cited, but reinterpreted, adapted, or reimagined, often in response to contemporary questions and concerns – that form the subject and heart of this dissertation. Seeking to contribute to the further analytical development of the concept of anchoring, this dissertation argues that it is imperative to pair the concepts of anchoring and affordances. It shows that to fully understand why various nineteenth, twentieth, and twenty-first century scholars anchored their ideas in Bacon’s theory one must not just examine the motivations and strategies of those doing the anchoring, but also the inherent features of the anchor - its affordances - as they help explain its appeal to the anchorers and determine what is and is not possible in terms of anchoring.