French Literature Reviews - 2026
A. Milanese, Bacon and the Governance of Knowledge: Critique, Invention, System: Modern Thought as a Test of History
Philosophy, Anthropology and Ideas
Arnaud Milanese, Bacon et le gouvernement du savoir - Critique, invention, système: la pensée moderne comme épreuve de l'histoire, Paris, Classiques Garnier, coll. Constitution de la modernité, 2016.
EAN: 9782406057390
587 pages
Price: 39 €
The Baconian reconstruction is both philosophical and political: through the critique of our historical conditions, it grasps the system of epistemic and political institutions, and initiates a new history centered on invention. Such is the direction he imparted to modernity.
Francis Bacon, the seventeenth-century English philosopher and statesman, is widely regarded as a foundational figure of modern science and empiricism. In this study, Arnaud Milanese situates Bacon's project within the transition to early modernity, showing how his proposed reform of learning was not merely a scientific endeavor but a deeply political one. By analyzing the governance of knowledge, the book explores how Bacon sought to restructure epistemic institutions to foster systematic invention. Milanese demonstrates how this Baconian reconstruction challenged traditional scholasticism, linking the advancement of science directly to the reorganization of political power and statecraft.
This work is particularly valuable for scholars and students of early modern philosophy, the history of science, and political theory. It addresses crucial questions about the historical relationship between political authority and scientific progress, exploring how the pursuit of truth became institutionalized in the modern era. Readers interested in the intellectual origins of modernity will find a detailed analysis of how Bacon's critique of historical conditions paved the way for a new understanding of progress. By framing Baconian thought as a test of history, Milanese offers fresh insights into the systemic nature of early modern intellectual reforms.