Tentative Answer: Bacon's Idols

2. Bacon criticizes existing beliefs as being one or another of a series of different kinds of 'idols'. What are these? If these are errors, what is he implying/suggesting to take its place?

Idols, as Bacon terms them, are general challenges or failings that humankind faces, which humankind must overcome in order to be able to reason and process the world (i.e. nature) critically through science. 

Bacon's four 'idols' are as follows:

1. Idols of the tribe: the shortcoming of humankind's sense perception, which lead to false conclusions. Bacon argues that perceptions of "the senses and the mind" are distorted because they always circle back to man instead of accurately addressing the universe. As such, this is collective human bias when examining the universe. 
2. Idols of the den: the individual bias (compared to general bias in the idol of the tribe) that distort perceptions of nature. Bacon says that each person has their "own individual den ... which intercepts and corrupts the light of nature... ." This distortion comes from an individual's experiences, education, and interactions with others; essentially, the 'idol' is when an individual allows their personal perspective to color their perception of the world. 
3. Idols of the market: the ambiguity of interaction, with specific regard to language. Bacon says that "men converse by means of language; but words are formed at the will of the generality ... a bad and unapt formation of words [creates] a wonderful obstruction to the mind." This idol is essentially the natural misunderstanding that comes from the interaction of individuals through an imperfect mode of communication (e.g. complex and ambitious language), misunderstanding which prevents humans from collectively understanding nature.
4. Idols of the theatre: the dogmas of philosophy, governments, and general social and political structures that obscure how nature actually functions, and prevents humans from perceiving nature. These dogmas affect how humankind approaches the study of nature and creates preformed ideas in people.

Instead of these 'errors' and shortcomings in humankind's approach to the study of nature, Bacon advocates for a total rejection of these idols. In part 68, Bacon states that the idols "must be abjured and renounced with firm and solemn resolution, and the understanding must be completely free and cleared of them." In this way, Bacon is arguing for empirical science and the study of nature, free from the misconceptions and predispositions toward false evidence that came with the idols, so that "access to the kingdom of man, which is founded on the sciences, may resemble that to the kingdom of heaven." Simply, Bacon is in support of neutral and evidence-based examination and study of nature.