Skip to main content

"scientia potentia est" was written for the first time in the 1668 version of the work LeviathanOffsite Link by Thomas Hobbes

https://www.historyofinformation.com/detail.php?id=5253

In His "Meditationes Sacrae" Francis Bacon Writes "Ipsa Scientia Potestas Est" (Knowledge is Power)

1597 to 1668
Frontispiece by Wenceslaus Hollar of Sprat's History of the Royal Society depicting Bacon in the foreground on the right as one of the founding influences of the Society.
Frontispiece by Wenceslaus Hollar of Sprat's History of the Royal-Society (1667) depicting Bacon in the foreground on the right as one of the founding influences of the Society.
The expression, "knowlege is power," traditionally attributed to Sir Francis BaconOffsite Link, is not literally what Bacon wrote. According to the Wikipedia article, Scientia potentia estOffsite Link, the closest thing that Bacon wrote to the Latin phrase was "statuuntque latiores terminos scientiae Dei quam potestatis, vel potius ejus partis potestatis Dei (nam et ipsa scientia potestas est) qua scit, quam ejus qua movet et agit: ut praesciat quaedam otiose, quae non praedestinet et praeordinet," in his Meditationes sacrae Offsite Link(1597.  This phrase was translated as:

"The sciences are small powers; because not eminent, and therefore, not acknowledged in any man; nor are at all, but in a few, and in them, but of a few things. For science is of that nature, as none can understand it to be, but such as in a good measure have attained it".

The writers of the Wikipedia article indicated that the exact phrase "scientia potentia est" was written for the first time in the 1668 version of the work LeviathanOffsite Link by Thomas HobbesOffsite Link, who was a secretary to Bacon as a young man.

As the phrase was adapted over the centuries, by the early 19th century, Hobbes' version of the phrase was widely attributed to Bacon. We find it used for the promotion of the practical value of learning or the learning of information useful in life by the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge and the related Mechanic's MagazineLater the phrase was misused in the sense of government surveillance by the shortlived U.S. government "Information Awareness Office."

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Vox Cantoris vs. Aqua

The Catholic Monitor commenter Aqua had this to say to the Vox Cantoris website: Aqua said… Fred, your topic here reminds me of a dust-up, a few days ago, on Vox Cantoris. He asserted that it is our duty as Christians to wear masks to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass if the government tells us we must, or they will close our Churches. My response to him was that I find it inconceivable that an orthodox Catholic, such as himself, would ever submit to unjust dictates from secular government over how we approach Our Lord in Holy Mass. My response to him was that the Mass belongs to Catholics and we decide, within the bounds of Tradition, and in accord with the Word of Jesus, how we conduct ourselves in Holy Mass. Only one authority prevails over Mass and that is our God and the Sacred Tradition given by Him to guide us in all times and places. Understand, there is nothing inherently wrong with wearing a mask to Mass. But there is EVERYTHING wrong with wearing a symbol...

Might Biden be a Liar & Predator like McCarrick?

September 15, 2020   Everyone knows that sexual predator ex-cardinal Theodore McCarrick is a liar. His whole life was a lie of betrayal of the most sacred vows he took and the violation of the moral tenets of the Catholic faith which he desecrated. Most people don't realize that part of this desecration of lies included lying for "gravely sinful" Democrats like Joe Biden. McCarrick protected Biden when then head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (later to be Pope Benedict XVI) wrote that bishops were not to admit to Communion politicians like "gravely sinful" Biden who supports the killing of unborn babies. McCarrick lied for politicians like Biden by ignoring the important parts of the Ratzinger letter and told bishops not to ignore the Catholic Church law.  Last year, Fr. Robert Morey denied Holy Communion to the “gravely sinful” Biden following a "2004 decree signed jointly by the bishops of ...