Take a look at Francis Bacon's Novum Organum written in 1620, specifically the sections on the four idols of the human mind that sometimes prevent one from reac

Take a look at Francis Bacon's Novum Organum written in 1620, specifically the sections on the four idols of the human mind that sometimes prevent one from reaching truthful conclusions. To my mind, this is philosophy of science before any practices had really crystallized. Reading this in college, I remember being impressed that Bacon seemed so modern in his thinking 400 years ago. His awareness of and focus on the fact that cognition is influenced by cultural context is a huge step and I was unaware it had been made so long ago. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novum_Organum http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novum_Organum Full text here: http://www.constitution.org/bacon/nov_org.htm http://www.constitution.org/bacon/nov_org.htm