Aristotle’s philosophy serves as a base for many modern sciences such as metaphysics, ethics, biology and zoology. He set the foundations of formal logic, and he also dealt with music, poetry and theatre, and spoke about politics and governing. In his work Organon, Aristotle addresses various issues and introduces his syllogism, where the conclusion is drawn from two different premises, a method that has influenced scientific thought ever since. He even defines linguistic categories in his On Interpretation, such as nouns, verbs, affirmations, simple propositions etc.
Francis Bacon on the other hand, as he claimed, “has taken all knowledge to be his province”. His ambition was not merely to master all knowledge, but to make changes and reformations of the way the new knowledge was to be acquired. Interestingly, his work on reformed methodology Novum Organum, is a clear reference to Aristotle’s Organon, where he introduces a new kind of logic superior to that of syllogism. His method opposes the Aristotelian by using inductive and experimental approaches, collecting data on important subjects, building up rules and hypotheses. Aristotle’s work had a great influence on the philosophical thought until Bacon’s time. This was part of the reformations that were initiated with the Renaissance and intensified later, during the Restoration in England. The world was changing, new worlds were discovered, new things as well, and with these revolutionary changes, it was now easier for new approaches to be introduced in methodology.
One of the greatest philosophers of all times, Rene Descartes, the major figure in 17th century rationalism, developed a method of systematic doubt. In his work Discourse on the Method he offers a single principle: only the thought exists, or in simple words cogito ergo sum (I think therefore I am). Here he introduces a method called hyperbolical-metaphysical doubt, also known as methodological skepticism, where only ideas that could not be...