The master's thesis examines the practical and theoretical projects of the early modern natural philosopher, inventor, and political economist William Petty, emphasizing his relationship to the earlier reform project of the Great Instauration that was outlined by the English statesman and philosopher Francis Bacon. It argues that both Petty and Bacon were interested in the institutionalization of reformed empirical and experimentalist knowledge that would be able to contribute to fundamental social advancement; advancement that could be understood as the improvement of the powers of labour or the productive powers of society. First, it focuses on Bacon, showing that he was primarily interested in the reform of natural philosophy which would bring philosophers closer to the laboring processes of early modern society. Bacon’s proposed reform would replace a traditionally idle and sterile philosophy, which was developed by the ancient Greeks and found its highest expression in the scholastics, into a labouring and productive force, one that would be able to assist in the productive exploitation of nature for the economic and political advantage of England. On the basis of an overview of Bacon's proposed project of reform, the master's thesis argues that Petty was – as a member of the baconian Hartlib Circle and later of The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge – a supporter, defender, and practitioner of Bacon’s ideas. It also shows that Petty extended Bacon’s project with his own proposals for institutional reform and with the development of his quantitative political science, called political arithmetic, which he understood as a theoretical tool for the efficient organization and exploitation of labor, both in England and its colonies.
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