His famous 4-part division of “idols” divides them according to their origins rather than what they actually are. That particular division hasn’t been found terribly useful, and I don’t think there are contemporary names for his classes.
(They are: “idols of the tribe”, meaning errors common to humankind, which is what he means by the “tribe”; “idols of the cave”, meaning errors idiosyncratic to particular individuals, each conceived as inhabiting his own private cave; “idols of the marketplace”, meaning errors that result from interactions between people—conceived as meeting in the marketplace—rather than within a single individual working in isolation; and “idols of the theatre”, meaning errors we inherit from incorrect philosophical theories, which Bacon thought were like stage plays representing worlds that differ from the real world.)
The offendicula were Roger Bacon’s, not Francis Bacon’s. (Deference to authority; custom and convention; popular prejudice; covering up our ignorance with a show of wisdom.) They are specific failure modes rather than broad classes of error. I don’t think they have particular standard contemporary names.
[EDITED to do a bit more indicating of where Francis Bacon’s odd names come from.]
His famous 4-part division of “idols” divides them according to their origins rather than what they actually are. That particular division hasn’t been found terribly useful, and I don’t think there are contemporary names for his classes.
(They are: “idols of the tribe”, meaning errors common to humankind, which is what he means by the “tribe”; “idols of the cave”, meaning errors idiosyncratic to particular individuals, each conceived as inhabiting his own private cave; “idols of the marketplace”, meaning errors that result from interactions between people—conceived as meeting in the marketplace—rather than within a single individual working in isolation; and “idols of the theatre”, meaning errors we inherit from incorrect philosophical theories, which Bacon thought were like stage plays representing worlds that differ from the real world.)
The offendicula were Roger Bacon’s, not Francis Bacon’s. (Deference to authority; custom and convention; popular prejudice; covering up our ignorance with a show of wisdom.) They are specific failure modes rather than broad classes of error. I don’t think they have particular standard contemporary names.
[EDITED to do a bit more indicating of where Francis Bacon’s odd names come from.]
Sorry. Fixed the Bacons.