ABSTRACT
The end of an epoch is thus characterized by the loss of self-evident truths. The social integration of science and its organization around the principle of usefulness was mentioned as the second aim of the Baconian program. In Bacon's Utopian state "New Atlantis," science is organized as "Salomon's House." Bacon conceptualized this institution as a second authority that, along with the political authority, would look after the public good. Salomon's House was the concrete realization of Bacon's conviction that human conditions can be improved primarily through the development of science and technology. The implication is that Bacon's confidence in reason and religion does not permit even the thought to arise that there could be a deep ambivalence about scientific-technological development. Socialism, too, augmented the Baconian program with the idea of an organization of the whole of society on a scientific basis. Fulfillment of the Baconian program resulted when science achieved the rank of an important sector of society.
