Introduction: “Assaying” the (Post-)Modern Essay
James S. Baumlin | Missouri State University & Craig A. Meyer | Jackson State University
Publication: Volume 5 Issue 4
Excerpt | “For a faculty of wise interrogating is half a knowledge.” —Francis Bacon, Advancement of Learning (1605).
Dating back to Plato (and surviving in several versions), the above aphorism can guide us still: “Right questioning”—to put it in more modern parlance—”is half an answer.” In his Advancement of Learning (1605), Sir Francis Bacon (1561–1626) divides scholarly discourse into two “method[s] of tradition” or transmission, “whereof the one may be termed magistral, and the other of probation.” Reforming scholarly invention and communication, Bacon treats the latter as antidote to the former:
“For as knowledges are now delivered, there is a kind of contract of error between the deliverer and the receiver. For he that delivereth knowledge desireth to deliver it in such form as may be best believed, and not as may be best examined; and he that receiveth knowledge desireth rather present satisfaction than expectant inquiry; and so rather not to doubt, than not to err: glory making the author not to lay open his weakness, and sloth making the disciple not to know his strength.” (Advancement; emphasis added)
Whereas the magistral method “is designed to teach what one already knows and get the belief of audience,” the probative “seeks to stimulate further inquiry and to advance knowledge” (Stephens 70). At the heart of Bacon’s reform of scholarly-scientific communication stands the essay genre and its predominant rhetorical scheme, the aphorism. “[F]or aphorisms,” writes Bacon,
“cannot be made but of the pith and heart of sciences; for discourse of illustration is cut off; recitals of examples are cut off; discourse of connection and order is cut off; descriptions of practice are cut off. So there remaineth nothing to fill the aphorisms but some good quantity of observation; and therefore no man can suffice, nor in reason will attempt, to write aphorisms, but he that is sound and grounded. […] And lastly, aphorisms, representing a knowledge broken, do invite men to inquire further; whereas [magistral] methods, carrying the show of a total, do secure men, as if they were at furthest.” (Advancement; emphasis added)
Thus “knowledge, while […] in aphorisms and observations […] is in growth” (Advancement).
Key words | Aphorism, Knowledge, Essay, Assay, Rhetoric, Ethos, Life Narratives, Academic Writing, Probative, Francis Bacon, Michel de Montaigne
James S. Baumlin (jbaumlin@missouristate.edu) is Distinguished Professor of English at Missouri State University, USA, where he teaches coursework in early-modern English literature (Shakespeare, Donne, and Milton), critical theories, and the history of rhetoric, having published extensively in these fields. He has also widely published in rhetorical theory and composition pedagogy. His current research focuses on the history of Western ethos from antiquity to the present day.
Craig A. Meyer (craig.a.meyer@jsums.edu) is Associate Professor of English and Director of the Writing Program at Jackson State University, USA. His scholarship focuses on Rhetoric and Composition, Popular Culture Rhetorics, Creative Writing, Histories of Rhetoric, Social Justice, as well as Disability Studies. His current research furthers our understanding of ethos from western and non-western perspectives.
MLA Citation for this Article:
Baumlin, James S., and Craig A. Meyer. “Introduction: “Assaying” the (Post-)Modern Essay.” Language, Literature, and Interdisciplinary Studies, vol. 5, no. 4, 18 Sep. 2023, pp. 1.1-1.4, http://ellids.com/archives/2023/09/5.4-Forum-Baumlin-Meyer.pdf