Francis Bacon's The Sphinx: A Slanted Fable

     While Francis Bacon is a first rate intellect, he can also be seen as one of the enablers of our modern scientific madness. Adler says of this key Bacon work that, "The Sphinx is a fable. It is not always wise to say much about a fable. It should be read and pondered." In his introductory comments, Adler observes that at the heart of Bacon's fable is an exploration of the nature of science itself and human nature.  Adler does ask one great question, "Is there not evidence that the one kind is much more difficult than the other?" In other words, Adler is making a great observation that human nature and the nature of science are profoundly intertwined and need to be considered together as they both have implications for one another.
     There are two related questions that are also worth pondering as one reads the Francis Bacon fable on "The Sphinx." Adler asked, "to the nature of man, how much does the modern age know which Bacon did not? Or has it even forgotten some things that seemed clear and obvious to him?"  My own sense is that neither Bacon nor much of the modern mind has a real clear understanding of either the nature of science or the nature of man.
     Part of the reason I make such a bold assertion is found at the very beginning of the fable by Bacon. He describes the looks of the Sphinx that has claws of aggression. It seems that the modern world has forgotten how Christianity came to view the Griffin.  If the moden mind was guided by the Griffin, we would certainly be in a better condition.  It is worth noting that Bacon says, "the Sphinx is a killer." However, it is Oedipus in his wisdom, that slays the Sphinx. Here's one key quote from the story, "Science, being the wonder of the ignorant and unskillful, may not absurdly be called a monster." One could add, even to the knowledgeable and the most skilled, science could be thought of as a beast, apparently open to being tamed, but also ultimately beyond human control.
     Bacon also says, "again the Sphinx proposes to men a variety of hard questions and riddles which she received from the Muses." One could say that modern practical science seems to have entirely lost this sense of mystery, awe, and wonder. One thing that Bacon says that is certainly not true is that, "For he who understands his subject is a master of his end; and every workman is king over his work." Bacon and other scientists seem to miss one of the most striking aspects of applied science. It is what the Amish clearly understand. It is the reality of the unintended consequences of our application. In other words, our tools often act back upon us in a manner we did not anticipate.
     Even though this fable by a mind as grand as Bacon's is worth reading and pondering, it is the slant of the fable that is easily missed.  While there is something of a warning tone in the fable, ultimately, Bacon celebrates in fictional form man's potential for reigning sovereign with science (theoretical and applied) as our slave.  The reality of the lessons of history has demonstrated that it is often the master who is the slave.