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Opus Majus
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<h2 id="contents">Contents</h2> <p>The <i>Opus Majus</i> is divided into seven parts: </p> <ol><li>Part one considers the obstacles to real wisdom and truth, classifying the causes of error (<i>offendicula</i>) into four categories: following a weak or unreliable authority, custom, the ignorance of others, and concealing one's own ignorance by pretended knowledge.</li> <li>Part two considers the relationship between <a href="/facts/Philosophy/zAH5PVD6">philosophy</a> and <a href="/facts/Theology/N71Fyw2M">theology</a>, concluding that theology (and particularly <a href="/facts/Holy_Scripture/H2HjQEYv">Holy Scripture</a>) is the foundation of all sciences.</li> <li>Part three contains a study of Biblical <a href="/facts/Language/IRcTok2q">languages</a>: <a href="/facts/Latin/pM3Kge85">Latin</a>, <a href="/facts/Ancient_Greek/LIK7NlUh">Greek</a>, <a href="/facts/Hebrew/hqKCSy9d">Hebrew</a>, and <a href="/facts/Arabic/A1e66hVV">Arabic</a>, as a knowledge of language and grammar is necessary to understand revealed wisdom.</li> <li>Part four contains a study of <a href="/facts/Mathematics/pxTouaz4">Mathematics</a>: As part of the study, he vividly drew out the flaws in the <a href="/facts/Julian_Calendar/EQBtA1ML">Julian Calendar</a>, proposing to drop a day every 125 years from 325 CE (<a href="/facts/First_Council_of_Nicaea/6lHSuWwy">Council of Nicaea</a>). He also noted the shifting of the <a href="/facts/Equinox/s8kaFsD2">Equinoxes</a> to the <a href="/facts/Solstice/3vEDtAhg">Solstices</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a></li> <li>Part five contains a study of <a href="/facts/Optics/p0vq4S1T">Optics</a>: The study of optics in part five seems to draw on the works of the Arab writers <a href="/facts/Al-Kindi/JBAlstwD">Kindi</a> and <a href="/facts/Alhazen/Q5H9hm4J">Alhazen</a>, including a discussion of the <a href="/facts/Physiology/fh25y2pQ">physiology</a> of <a href="/facts/Eyesight/g7Tfaq2l">eyesight</a>, the <a href="/facts/Anatomy/p8TCWJuV">anatomy</a> of the <a href="/facts/Human_eye/a24ua4fy">eye</a> and the <a href="/facts/Human_brain/qfSwSB8K">brain</a>, and considers <a href="/facts/Light/jeofpMn4">light</a>, distance, position, and size, direct vision, <a href="/facts/Reflection_(physics)/BhcjDs79">reflected</a> vision, and <a href="/facts/Refraction/S8kvSKzM">refraction</a>, <a href="/facts/Mirror/wMu4u6BB">mirrors</a> and <a href="/facts/Lens_(optics)/ejlH6n5c">lenses</a>.</li> <li>Part six, <i>De scientia experimentalis</i>, a study of <a href="/facts/Experimental_Science/esltM54f">Experimental Science</a>: It includes a review of <a href="/facts/Alchemy/CEx0U1Em">alchemy</a>, the creation of gunpowder and of the positions and sizes of the <a href="/facts/Celestial_bodies/BCHLa0Q2">celestial bodies</a>, and anticipates later <a href="/facts/Invention/P3LdUHBY">inventions</a>, such as <a href="/facts/Microscope/ldJp0CI3">microscopes</a>, <a href="/facts/Telescope/BDwYahhR">telescopes</a>, <a href="/facts/Spectacle/4UjayPmC">spectacles</a>, <a href="/facts/Flying_machine/6ADsjtK0">flying machines</a>, <a href="/facts/Hydraulic/KSIqLovc">hydraulics</a> and <a href="/facts/Steam_ship/Ay0fhKBW">steam ships</a>. The <a href="/facts/Occult/G59eqens">occult</a> overtones of this section reflect Bacon's interest in <a href="/facts/Magic_(paranormal)/ttcCLh3A">magic</a>, which he also wrote about in <i>De secretis operibus artis et naturae, et de nullitate magiae</i>. It was a major influence on <a href="/facts/John_Dee/YKm1t4ru">John Dee</a>'s theory of <i>Archemastrie</i>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a></li> <li>Part seven considers moral philosophy and <a href="/facts/Ethics/wNVNgL5q">ethics</a>.</li></ol> <p>An incomplete version of Bacon's <i>Opus Majus</i> was published by <a href="/facts/William_Bowyer_(printer)/XNK05cvN">William Bowyer</a> in <a href="/facts/London/KozCCsy9">London</a> in 1733. It was edited by <a href="/facts/Samuel_Jebb/nFlsnzXr">Samuel Jebb</a> from a manuscript at <a href="/facts/Trinity_College%2c_Cambridge/uI0I61Sb">Trinity College, Cambridge</a> which omitted the seventh part. </p><p> As a recent paper emphasizes, this major work cannot be usefully read exclusively in the context of the history of science and philosophy while forgetting to consider Bacon's religious commitment to the <a href="/facts/Franciscan_Order/gwohhd4C">Franciscan Order</a>. "<i>His Opus maius was a plea for reform addressed to the supreme <a href="/facts/Pope/9zVokNjn">spiritual head of the Christian faith</a>, written against a background of <a href="/facts/Apocalypse/g7FkY8HS">apocalyptic</a> expectation and informed by the driving concerns of the friars. It was designed to improve training for <a href="/facts/Missionary/AtfQeYq3">missionaries</a> and to provide new skills to be employed in the defence of the Christian world against the enmity of non-Christians and of the <a href="/facts/Antichrist/R7fYj25M">Antichrist</a></i>".<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a></p> <h2 id="notes">Notes</h2> <ul><li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20060907231554/http://www2.nd.edu/Departments/Maritain/etext/hwp218.htm">A History of Western Philosophy Vol. II</a> by Ralph McInerny from the Jacques Maritain Center, <a href="/facts/University_of_Notre_Dame/oplPM5R2">University of Notre Dame</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13111b.htm">Roger Bacon</a> from the <a href="/facts/Catholic_Encyclopedia/GKufVzBf">Catholic Encyclopedia</a></li> <li><a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=wMUKAAAAYAAJ"><i>Fr. Rogeri Bacon Opera quaedam hactenus Inedita</i>, Vol. 1</a> at Google Books. Contains the <i>Opus Tertium</i>, <i>Opus Minus</i>, and <i>Compendium Philosophiae</i>.</li></ul> <h2 id="external-links">External links</h2> <ul><li><a href="https://archive.org/details/opusmajusrogerb04bridgoog"><i>Opus Majus</i>, Volume I</a> in the Internet Archive – original text in Latin (omitting Part IV), ed. by John Henry Bridges, 1897.</li> <li><a href="https://archive.org/details/opusmajusrogerb01bridgoog"><i>Opus Majus</i>, Volume I</a> in the Internet Archive – original text in Latin (including <a href="https://archive.org/stream/opusmajusrogerb01bridgoog#page/n293/mode/2up">Part IV</a>), ed. by John Henry Bridges, 1900.</li> <li><a href="https://archive.org/details/opusmajusofroger02bacouoft"><i>Opus Majus</i>, Volume II</a> in the Internet Archive – original text in Latin, ed. by John Henry Bridges, 1897.</li> <li><a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=OYbmqiwIK5YC"><i>Opus Majus</i>, Volume I</a> at Google Books – English trans. by Robert Belle Burke, 1928.</li> <li><a href="https://archive.org/details/opusmajusofroger002065mbp"><i>Opus Majus</i>, Volume II</a> in the Internet Archive – English trans. by Robert Belle Burke, 1962.</li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>Opus Majus in year 1267 was accompanied by a letter of dedication to the Pope. <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>David Ewing Duncan, The Calendar, 2011, pp. 3–5. <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>Clulee, Nicholas H.; Vickers, Brian (1984). "At the crossroads of magic and science: John Dee's Archemastrie". In Vickers, Brian (ed.). Occult and scientific mentalities in the Renaissance. p. 59. doi:10.1017/CBO9780511572999.003. ISBN 9780511572999. <a href="9780511572999" target="_blank">9780511572999</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>(p. 692) Power, Amanda. (2006). "A Mirror for Every Age: The Reputation of Roger Bacon". The English Historical Review. 121 (492): 657–692. doi:10.1093/ehr/cel102. <a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/Doi_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>