"Man is Nature's Interpreter"

"For man is nature's agent and interpreter; he does and understands only as much as he has observed of the order of Nature in work or by inference; he does not know and cannot do more. No strength exists that can interrupt or break the chain of causes; and nature is conquered only by obedience...The whole secret is never to let the mind's eyes stray from things themselves, and to take in images exactly as they are. May God never allow us to publish a dream of our imagination as a model of the world, but rather graciously grant us the power to describe the true appearance and revelation of the prints and traces of the Creator in his creatures" (Bacon, The New Organon 24). 

As Bacon begins the New Organon he incessantly comments on man's incorrect way of approaching nature and philosophy. Bacon insists that man as a whole should deal with and attempt to understand nature through experience rather than relying on intellect. He supports the study of philosophers and scientists' previous works, but stresses that we must add on to them because analysis alone can not help us develop a natural history. Furthermore, if a man strictly relies on thought and analysis of the thoughts of his predecessors then no real knowledge has been acquired other than the knowledge of others, because, as Bacon said, a man understands only as much as he has observed himself.

In addition, the spiritual aspect of the purity of nature parallels our previous study of Bill McKibben's The End of Nature. Bacon speaks of understanding the reality of nature, rather than projecting one's own opinion or idea of nature onto it. He continues on to describe nature as a gift from God, one that as humans we are blessed and lucky to be able to enjoy. McKibben took this position as well, and in our class reading he talks about people experiencing God through nature. However, as Bacon suggests, man can only experience God through nature if he appreciates it for what it is. No imagined beauty is allowed--man must grow to be gracious for the beauty that God created for him.

As we understand Bacon's command for relating to nature personally and not through intellect alone, and pair it with our understanding of both McKibben and Bacon's idea of God's presence in unadulterated nature, we can come to one conclusion: in our current day and age, man cannot be idle. Both authors' messages can be interpreted and applied to modern issues like preservation and sustainability. Although man is "nature's agent and interpreter," man also affects nature unlike any other force and has power over it. In modern times, man's projection of a prototypic nature may very well be an attempt to fool himself into thinking that Bacon's call for discovery through true inspection and analysis, as he describes on page 19. To Bacon, as it should be to all of us, it is essential to preserve nature through education and promote its longevity so that man can provide as thorough and precise a natural history as possible.

These are the questions that my inferences have left me with: Can one actually place oneself in nature and learn from it without relying solely on intellect? What type of action can be taken to prevent nature becoming simply an ideology? Furthermore, although Bacon would cringe at this suggestion, is nature better off as an ideology rather than a creation of God for which man is the interpreter?