S. Gaukroger's 'Francis Bacon and the Transformation of Early-Modern Philosophy'

This is an interesting example of philosophical history. Stephen Gaukroger interprets Bacon as the exemplar of a change in ‘mentality’ which occurred between the late Medieval and the Renaissance periods. The change concerns the understanding of philosophy as an activity: questions were raised as to the point of the exercise, its rationale, and most of all the identity of the persona of the philosopher. Gaukroger takes the latter to be the focus of his study, and works his way through the transformations concerning the practice of philosophy, using Bacon as a paradigmatic case.