Rhetorical Analysis On Idols

Sir Francis Bacon identifies an idol as a biased that distorts and deceives man’s interpretation of the world. These idols are what cloud individuals judgements and perceptions of the world because the idols are pre-made and are unable to be corrected with out great personal discipline (Article Two). Bacon believes it is important to consider the bias of the idols because without understanding the bias then one cannot break away the bias to fully be enlightened or have a true knowledge of how the world works (Article Two). Sir Francis Bacon classifies the idols of the world into four groups. The groups include: Idols of the Tribe, Idols of the Cave, Idols of the Marketplace, and Idols of the Theater. Each idol examines a different aspect of
An example would be a person viewing a situation such as a relationship problem between two friends from an outside view and the person only seeing half of the picture but imagining or “reading” more into the situation than is actually there. Bacon also writes that the human mind never stops conceiving and has no end ton its racing, we are always looking into the beyond to see what lies ahead, or to see where we have been (Article Two). As humans we have the issue of not being able to slow down and engage in the present because we are to concerned about what is to come. A child’s life through a parents eyes is an example that is easily demonstrated to exploit this idol. A parent sees a child and sees the future, the child growing maturing turning into an adult and with that growth and maturation comes added responsibility, troubles, and stresses for the parent. Parents are worried about saving money to fun an education for the child and are stressed by working hard and end up missing a part of their child’s life due to their concern about the future of the child instead of slowing down and having their moment with the child in the
The theater idols represent the centralized and accepted ideas of the major philosophy principles being: rational, empirical, and theological (Article One). The rational system is criticized because it begins with a system of logic and conforms all empirical observations to that logic (Article One). With this being the case it entraps the logic to the observations. The idols of the Theater mimic a puppet show or play presentation because of the “smoke and mirrors” that are displayed by governments and larger parties that are in power over a group of people. These idols are dangerous because as humans our average gullible personality causes us to go with what the “protective party” or government says or tells because of the trust that is stored in the party. Examples of this are common in many societies, one example of this idol in American society is the war on terrorism. The war on terrorism and how the U.S. government went to Iraq, Afghanistan, and recently in Kuwait to “defend” and establish democracy in these areas. When a person steps back and examines the event that took place and the parts that were first liberated and heavily defended in these areas they can quickly discover that the oil reserves and manufacturing equipment in these areas are what was sought after first by the American