REVIEW OF FRANCIS BACON'S ESSAY

Ambition of Professional Life:

A man’s worth is no greater than the worth of his ambitions. —Marcus Aurelius

Ambition derives from the Latin ambitio, ‘a going around (to solicit votes)’, and, by extension, ‘a striving for honour, recognition, and preferment’.

Ambition can be defined as ‘a striving for some kind of achievement or distinction’. It involves, first, the desire for attainment, and, second, the motivation and determination to strive for its accomplishment even in the face of failure and adversity. Some people achieve for the sake of achievement alone, or for the sake of developing skills and competencies, but ambitious people qua ambitious people achieve first and foremost for the sake of the rewards of achievement, such as money, honour, power, or fame, which elevate them above other people.

In the Politics, Aristotle advances that men’s ambition and their greed are among the most frequent causes of deliberate acts of injustice. In the Novum Organum (1620), Francis Bacon refines this thought: as long as ambitious men find the way open for their rising, they are busy rather than dangerous; but if they are checked, they ‘become secretly discontent, and look upon men and matters with an evil eye’. Bacon advises princes to exert restraint in employing ambitious people, and to handle them ‘so as they be still progressive and not retrograde’.

Bacon's 'Of Ambition' is another short essay on a popular subject. It deals with how to handle professional life's ambition. To Bacon ambition makes a man active, energetic and prompt in the performance of his duties. But if an effort is made to put some restraint on an ambitious  men , he is likely to become spiteful and dangerous. If ambitious men go on getting opportunities for rising higher and higher, they are busy rather than dangerous. But, if they are prevented from their desire to grow stronger and stronger, they become secretly discontented and feel happy when things go wrong with the ruler or with the people in general. This kind of discontentment in a public servant can prove very harmful. However , it is often necessary to make use of ambitious men. For instance, the services of a good commander must be utilised in war no matter how ambitious he is. The usefulness of such a commander will make up for any other defects in him. Besides, if a soldier has no ambition to rise higher in his profession, he will have no incentive to take risks

It is to be noted that Bacon does not show much regard for what we consider to be ideal morality. He does not show any scruple in the kind of advice that he offers to king and governments. He aims at expediency rather than nobility as regards the course of action that he suggests. He would like a king to resort any kind of manipulation  in order to maintain his authority and to prevent any ambitious person from becoming too powerful. This is one of those essays in which Bacon's worldliness appears most markedly.