Francis Bacon

My master’s and licentiate theses dealt with the English philosopher and statesman Francis Bacon (1561–1626). I chose the topic largely because the collected works of Francis Bacon were available in both the Helsinki University Library and the library of the Parliament of Finland. In the 1980s, you couldn’t even dream of the kind of data bases we have today, which enable the reading of primary sources in your own home.

Although the topic was expanded for my doctoral dissertation, Bacon remained on board. In 1996, I delivered the Cambridge companion to Bacon to Cambridge University Press, and at the beginning of the 2000s I wrote a wide-ranging article on him for Britain’s new Dictionary of National Biography.

Because of those studies, Bacon follows me wherever I go. He is in all of my books, and in 2015 alone I have written three referee statements on manuscripts dealing with his thinking for international academic journals.

By Written by Markku Peltonen (Suvi Uotinen ed.), translated by Matthew Billington

Markku Peltonen

Markku Aimo Olavi Peltonen
Born December 9, 1957 Helsinki

Master of Arts 1984, Licentiate 1988 and PhD 1992 (general History), University of Helsinki

Academy Professor 2014–18
Principle Investigator of the Academy of Finland research project Participatory Politics and State Formation in Early-Modern England: Monarchy, the Public and Democratic Distrust
Professor of general history 2009–, University of Helsinki (leave of absence 2014–18)
Professor of intellectual history 2007–09, University of Helsinki

Publications, research projects and other academic activity

Research themes: early modern intellectual and cultural history, particularly political thought, the history of politeness and manners and the development of natural philosophy in the early modern era.

Photo: Linda Tammisto / Helsingin yliopisto
Written by Markku Peltonen (Suvi Uotinen, ed.)
Translated by Matthew Billington