摘要：In this essay, the Baconian concept of cause, especially that of formal cause, is examined. Some capital notions of Bacon’s philosophy are presented, like the distinction between its theoretical and practical aspects. An interpretation of the concept of formal cause, based in notions of sufficiency and necessity, is proposed here. Some consequences of this analysis for an understanding of the concept of scientific explanation are discussed. It is argued that the Baconian concept of causal explanation is not incompatible with the Hempelian model of scientific explanation. It is concluded that a phenomenon is explained, in accordance with Bacon’s theory of science, once the causal law which governs its behavior (that is, its formal cause) is discovered.
