Bacon was, no doubt, man of letters.

He was given the title of father of English prose due to his

contribution to English literature. Nonetheless, Bacon’s pragmatism and worldly wisdom tempers his
philosophy throughout. It has been said that he was mentally giant but morally dwarf. He prefers
personal ambitions on morality and decency. He was not an ethical moralist but a practical person
having tips and tricks to become successful in every field of life. In his essays he either advises to kings or
expresses his political opinions. His philosophy is materialistic. His nature is mean due to which his
attitude towards life is considerably wrong. He is one of those persons who can do anything for success.
Pope has rightly sketched nature of Sir Francis Bacon in following words:-

“If parts allure thee, think how Bacon shined

The wisest, brightest, meanest of mankind”.

What is Pragmatism?

Pragmatism is a policy of having pragmatic attitude. Pragmatic attitude means dealing things sensibly
and practically and not theoretically or emotionally.

Bacon’s Pragmatism and Worldly Wisdom:

From above said definition, it seems that whole Bacon’s philosophy contains pragmatism and worldly
wisdom. Although he talks about worldly benefits yet his opinions are sensible. Pragmatism and worldly
wisdom are two different things. Let’s discuss them one by one.

Bacon’s worldly wisdom:

He was born in a well settled family with a golden spoon in his mouth yet he struggled too much in his
life because of his father’s death. He fought for success. Resultantly, he became selfish. His knowledge
of law and keen observation made him different from other writers. In fact, his flattering tongue and
knowledge of law were two prominent traits of his personality. These two traits helped him in gaining
success. When he talked, people listened him without winkling. In spite of having too much enemies, he
survived and gained fame. He did never give anything free to anyone; not even to his friends. He always
wanted something in return. His philosophy is much different from common writers.
Bacon as an Opportunist:

Sir Francis Bacon was also an opportunist. He advises that one should not miss any opportunity for his
own cause. He does not hesitate to change his own rules and principle for an opportunity. It is believed
that he had no morality due to which he faced criticism. None of his essays gives any moral lesson to the
readers. Friends are tools for him. He uses them without any hesitation. He is a selfish utilitarian. In his
eyes, marriage is a hurdle in way of success.

Bacon Lacks Morality:

He never prefers morality. Lack of morality is another trait of Sir Francis Bacon. He is a lusty person
having a lot of ambitions. He does not want morality or honour but benefit. To get benefit, he can do
anything. He is against corruption yet he himself was corrupt. He has good knowledge and his
philosophy is acceptable by everyone but his approach mainly concerns with worldly desires.

Bacon’s Machiavellian Approach

Bacon’s approach is Machiavellian. It can be witnessed in every essay of Sir Francis Bacon. His
philosophy depicts one and only principle: “end justifies means”. His essays contain a common message
that one should get success by hook or crook. He ignored the idea of eternal life and adored the worldly
life.

Bacon’s Selfishness:

Sir Francis Bacon is a selfish person. His philosophy has marks of selfishness. His attitude towards Earl of
Essex is evident that he can do anything for his own pleasures. He gathered evidence and produced in
the Court, against a person, who once favoured him. Instead of returning the favour, he went against
him and made his condition critical. His marriage is also evident that he was selfish as it was not result of
love.

Bacon’s Pragmatism Besides worldly Wisdom:

On the other hand, many critics defend Bacon. They consider him a sensible person. His philosophy is
pragmatic. It is applicable because it is practical. He has a practical solution of every problem. He
suggests taking decisions wisely and not emotionally. In this way, he is practical and results oriented,
rather than idealistic dreamer.
Many examples of pragmatism and worldly wisdom are there in Bacon’s essays. For instance, in “Parents
and Children”, he suggests fixing a handsome amount of pocket money for children lest they should find
illegal ways of getting money. Similarly, in “Of Firends” he suggests choosing friends wisely and not
emotionally.

These examples reveal that he is a man of world. Bacon’s philosophy is acceptable for every generation
because it contains pragmatism and worldly wisdom.

Francis bacon is often been considered as an advocate of Machiavellianism for his excessive
pragmatism.he even overlooks the moral issues to consider the practical benefit.in "of studies " some
of his ideas are like that of Machiavelli. his classification of books is unscrupulously practical."some
books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested."  to him it is
only practical gain that one should read.otherwise it would be wastage of time.again,he suggests to
read according to one's own need :"Nay there is no stond or impediment in the wit, but may be
wrought out by fit studies."that is, studies cure mental defects and accordingly a man should read
mathematics. Again, the study of scholastic philosophy can remove the confusion of thought.

Bacon does not support studies without any benefit. According to his, it is a sing idleness to spend
too much time on studies only to decorate one's speech or to depend entirely on studies for one's
judgment. studies should be used in practical field to achieve worldly advantages.so,Bacon's analysis
of studies is based on practical utility rather than idealistic morality and it is why his philosophy of
life is called Machiavellianism.

Conclusion:

Suffice is to say that Bacon’s pragmatism and worldly wisdom tempers his philosophy through. His
philosophy ignores morality. It is emotionless. It advises us to avail opportunities. His autobiography
reveals that he himself was an opportunist. Nonetheless, his philosophy is a result of his practical
experiences. There is no denying the fact that Bacon’s worldly wisdom and pragmatism is called his
philosophy .

Bacon's Prose style

Francis Bacon is generally recognized as the first great writer of English philosophy
although he had no great respect for the English language. It is a known fact that Bacon
is influenced by Montaigne. Bacon’s style is most remarkable for its terseness. Bacon
displays a great talent for condensation. Every sentence in his essays is pregnant with
meaning and is capable of being expanded into several sentences. Many of his
sentences appear to be proverbial sayings or apopthegms by virtue of their gems of
thoughts expressed in a pithy manner. He can say that most in the fewest words. His
essays combine wisdom in thought with extreme brevity. The short, pithy sayings in his
essays have become popular mottoes and household expressions.

An aphoristic style means a compact, condensed and epigrammatic style of writing. An

aphorism is a short sentence expressing a truth in the fewest possible words. An
aphorism is like a proverb which has a quotable quality. Bacon excels in this kind of
writing. Indeed, his essays are replete with aphorisms. Any number of examples could
be given from his essays to illustrate this style of writing.

Take the essay, Of Truth. There are a number of aphoristic sentences in this essay.
Some of these may be quoted here:

“A mixture of a lie doeth ever add pleasure.”

Here Bacon wants to convey the idea that the statement of a truth becomes more
attractive when a lie is mixed with it. Thus, whenever we want to defend a lie, we could
quote this sentence from Bacon.

“But it is not the lie that passeth through the mind, but the lie that sinketh in and settleth
in it, that doth the hurt.”

Here Bacon wishes to convey the idea that much harm is caused by a lie that settles
down in the mind because such a lie will keep working upon the mind and will have long
—term effects. A lie that is heard and then forgotten will not cause any injury to a man.

“Certainly it is heaven upon earth to have a man’s mind move in charity, rest in
Providence and turn upon the poles of truth.”

Here Bacon conveys a valuable moral by the use of the minimum possible number of
words.

The essay, Of Marriage and Single Life, shows the aphoristic quality of Bacon’s style in
a more striking manner. Here are some of the sentences that are eminently quotable.

“He that hath wife and children hath given hostages to fortune”.
The idea here has been expressed most effectively and memorably.

“Unmarried men are best friends, best masters, best servants, but not always best
subjects.”

This is an excellent summing-up of the case.

“Wives are young men’s mistresses, companions for middle age and old man’s nurses.”

Here is an aphorism combining wisdom with wit.

The essay, Of Great Place, also contains a number of pithy sentences. Here are a few
examples.

“It is a strange desire to seek power and to lose liberty: or to seek power over others
and to lose power over a man’s self.”

“The rising unto place is laborious, and by pains men come to greater pains.”
“For in evil, the best condition is not to will, the second not to can.”

All the three sentences quoted above are excellent examples of Bacon’s terse and
epigrammatic style.

Here are a few pithy sentences from the Essay, Of Friendship:

“For a crowd is not company and faces are but a gallery of pictures.”
“For there is no such flatterer as is a man’s self.”

This sentence conveys to us the idea that every man has the highest possible opinion of
himself. In other words, every man has his ego, and it is most often a highly inflated
ego.

The essay, Of Studies, abounds in aphoristic or epigrammatic sentences some of which

have become so famous that they are on the lips of even those men who have never
heard the name of Bacon.

“Crafty men condemn studies; simple men admire them; and wise men use them.”
“Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and
digested.”
“Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man.”
His aphoristic style makes Bacon an essayist of high distinction. Aphorisms give to his
essays singular force and weight. No one has ever produced a greater number of
closely packed and striking formulas, loaded with practical wisdom. Many of them have
become current as proverbs Bacon’s essays constitute a handbook of practical wisdom,
enclosing in their shortest maxims, an astonishing treasure of insight.

It may, however, be pointed out that, on account of extreme condensation, Bacon’s

aphorisms occasionally became obscure. For instance, it would be difficult to get the
meaning of the following pithy sentence from the essay, Of Truth:

“Certainly there be that delight in giddiness, and count it a bondage to fix a belief.”

The essay, Of Suitors, contains a number of sentences which are short and aphoristic
but obscure. For instance: “Secrecy in suits is a great mean of obtaining”. There is
hardly a reader who can understand the meaning of this sentence without some help
from a scholar. In fact the whole of this essay offers considerable difficulty to the reader
because of its excessive condensation and concentration of thoughts

But such exceptions apart, Bacon’s genius for compression lends much charm to his
style. Every aphorism that we come across startles us by its novelty. Every epigram
arrests us. Every pithy sentence holds our attention. And they all charm, delight and
thrill us because they all clothe weighty and valuable ideas, suggestions, lessons, and
so on. And what adds to their appeal is the fact that Bacon does not seem to have
made conscious efforts to produce them. The aphoristic style is not “laboured” in the
case of Bacon; it is truly spontaneous.