The Baconian oeuvre remains the most extensive and influential assault on Aristotelianism in English writing of the early modern period. Where convention respected Aristotelian logic as a viable instrument for studying natural philosophy, Bacon instead sought to initiate an instauration, or restoration, of learning by proposing his inductive method, grounded in empirical investigation. Bacon leveled his criticisms not only against Aristotle but also scholastic and early modern commentaries as well as university curricula. Whether through monumental publications or unfinished manuscripts, Baconian writing – consistent in its substantive critique but adaptive in its tone – frequently attends to the historical conditions in which Aristotelian thought flourished. Throughout, Bacon seeks not to remove from Aristotle his iconic status in the history of ideas but, more precisely, to transform him into a different icon altogether, a paradigmatic instance of how faulty methodology can mislead an individual mind and consign subsequent generations to intellectual torpor.

Keywords: Francis Bacon, Aristotle, Aristotelianism, Scientific Revolution, History of Philosophy