Don’t Sell Your Soul to the Devil: Analyzing The New Organon and Doctor Faustus
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Authors
Crozier, Kaden
Date of Issue
2025-04-25
Type
Presentation
Language
en_US
Subject Keywords
Other Titles
Abstract
This presentation looks into what the search for knowledge should fulfill in human life. Francis Bacon’s The New Organon and Christopher Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus meet at a point between the Renaissance and Enlightenment periods and grapple with how humankind should seek knowledge and make discoveries in a post-Reformation world. As the inspiration for the modern scientific method, The New Organon lays out the principles of how science should be used to progress human life. The Renaissance play Doctor Faustus shows the contrary; a man fed up with traditional knowledge who decides to sell his soul to the devil for the promise of power and wealth through magic. These texts illustrate how the selfish use of knowledge not only prevents us from finding truth, but can ultimately bring about more harm than good. Through moral direction, knowledge can be used to benefit societies and those around us—just don’t sell your soul to the devil.