Line by line explanation of Bacon’s
Of Goodness and Goodness of Nature
I take goodness in this sense, the affecting of the weal of men, which is that the Grecians call philanthropia; and the word humanity, (as it is used) is a little too light to express it.
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Meaning 1 ….. Francis Bacon tries to fathom and then explain to his readers the enormous importance of ‘goodness’. He says the trait of goodness aids the welfare and common good of society at large. The Greeks called this virtue ‘philanthropia’. We call those people philanthropist who donate money generously for public welfare. Bacon feels this word ‘philanthropia’ is inadequate to express ‘goodness’, which has a much larger connotation.
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Goodness I call the habit, and goodness of nature, the inclination.
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Meaning 2 …. Bacon says ‘goodness’ is the habit which pushes a person to be nice, understanding, and altruistic towards others. Such benign tendency is termed as ‘goodness of nature’ by the author.
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This of all virtues, and dignities of the mind, is the greatest; being the character of the Deity: and without it, man is a busy, mischievous, wretched thing; no better than a kind of vermin.
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