Idols refer to deeply-rooted false notions in our thinking processes that arise from our personal and sociopolitical backgrounds. Bacon identifies four kinds of idols:
- Idols of the tribe: the false notions that develop from asserting man’s sense “to be the standards of things” (6). The human mind imparts its own properties to different objects that it sees, and distorts or disfigures them. The tribe as such represents the human race and our collective biases.
- Idols of the den: the personal biases that arise from one’s “peculiar and singular disposition,” “education,” “reading,” “impressions,” and “intercourse with others” (7). The den resembles one’s personal outlook or framework of perspective, in that “everybody has his own den or cavern, which intercepts and corrupts the light of nature” that it receives (7). One may note that “the light of nature” appears here as the authoritative source of knowledge about the world, external of individuals’ perceptions of it.
- Idols of the market: the errors formed by “the reciprocal intercourse and society of man with man,” such that the nuances of commerce and language create fallacies (7). The market represents a location of exchange and conversation between men, and the formations of words may obstruct the clarity of thought in the human mind. Communication by word therefore inevitably involves a degree of error.
- Idols of the theater: finally, the idols of the theater characterize the “various dogmas” related to philosophy, forms of government, rules of demonstration, and other sociopolitical institutions that influence a society’s opinions and predispositions.
I think that it’s important to note that the idols existed as a possible hindrance for the pursuit of understanding. The idols can be seen similar to prejudices that preclude acceptance and comprehension of the truth, since that truth is being regarded through a clouded lens. While it would seem to be ideal for people to attempt to put aside their idols in their study of knowledge, the definitions of the different idols illustrate just how thoroughly the process of the acquisition of knowledge may be obstructed from the inside out. Recognition of faulted logic as such may come more easily than actually addressing and replacing those erroneous preconceived notions. Even so, that abandonment of one’s prejudices and idols for the sake of achieving greater understanding is not unique to Bacon. Descartes also touched upon this in his idea that those who have studied philosophy before may subsequently be those for whom his philosophy is more difficultly understood, since their education would likely have endowed them with false notions of philosophy that would have to be overturned for the sake of reaching the truth.
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