THE farther back we look into the history of mankind, the more plainly we see how the idolatrous tendencies of primitive man have multiplied; indeed, the record shows the human mind to have been immersed in idolatry from its very beginning.
Lord Bacon in his "Novum Organum" classified the idols of the human race by dividing them into four distinct groups thus: "Idols of the tribe, idols of the den [fallacies due to personal causes], idols of the market [those due to the influence of words or phrases], and idols of the theater [those due to misconceptions of philosophic system or demonstration]."
Present-day conditions might be tested by this searching analysis, and much of it will be found to be largely applicable, even as it was in Bacon's day. Do not nations and tribes still worship idols? Personal sense has only multiplied its fallacies. The influence of words and phrases is now immeasurably increased and extended. Modern philosophies and their demonstration can be seen reaping terrible harvests today.
