September the Ninth Post

Was Robinson Crusoe Right? Could Anyone in his Predicament have Accomplished the Same Things?

"So I went to work; and here I must needs observe, that as Reason is the Substance and Original of the Mathematicks, so by stating and squaring every thing by Reason, and by making the most rational Judgment of things, every Man may be in time Master of every mechanick Art. I had never handled a Tool in my Life, and yet in time by Labour, Application, and Contrivance, I found at last that I wanted nothing but I could have made it, especially if I had had Tools; however, I made abundance of things, even without Tools, and some with no more Tools than an Adze and Hatchet, which perhaps were never made that way before, and that with infinite Labour." -- Robinson Crusoe, pages 50-1

"Man, being the servant and interpreter of Nature, can do and understand so much and so much only as he has observed in fact or in thought of the course of nature: beyond this he neither knows anything nor can do anything. Neither the naked hand nor the understanding left of itself can effect much. It is by instruments and helps that the work is done, which are as much wanted for the understanding as for the hand. And as the instruments of the hand either give motion or guide it, so the instruments of the mind supply either suggestions for the understanding or cautions." Francis Bacon, The Portable Enlightenment Reader, page 39

Immediately after I read Bacon's assertion, Crusoe's claim that any man could have built the same provisions and such that he had came to mind. Could one have, really? There's a basic premise of intelligence and familiarity that, I would suspect, needs to be established before anyone in Crusoe's position could have come close to creating what he did. An interesting point was brought up early on in our classroom that Crusoe's narrative before being marooned on the island served only to ascertain that Crusoe had had some worldly experience, if only to establish credibility for the tale. There seems to be some truth to this, if only to bolster Bacon's argument. Man as the servant and interpreter of nature, who can do and understand only so much as he has observed? Crusoe spent his life in middle class ease until forsaking a lax lifestyle and heading out to sea. From there, he spent considerable time on ships, as well as in ship related accidents: he had to flee a capsizing vessel, was captured by pirates, commandeered a boat to escape said pirates, and then had the fortune ( skill? ) to be the only survivor of a shipwreck. That seems to imply familiarity with ships and their fittings, as shown by how thoroughly he disemboweled the wreck when it washed up on the island's shore. Also, his time in Brasil certainly served him well when it came to planting and harvesting his crops. He had a successful plantation there that he had built from the ground up, which mirrored his inspiration: he had seen many other men accumulate wealth quickly through these plantations.
The one constant in Crusoe's life ( before fifteen plus years on the same island, performing a variation of the same routine each and every day ) is a desire for more, and for expansion. However, this seems to always lead to trouble for Crusoe: on an expedition to gather slaves to expand his and others' plantations, he is marooned in the first place. All of the tools that Crusoe builds are imitations of useful commodities from his past life, and he admits to being at a loss to inventing anything that he has not had prior experience with -- as well as he shouldn't, if Bacon is to be believed. Personally, I believe that Bacon's declaration is fully supported by Crusoe's actions -- Crusoe was able to give form to many inventions like wicker baskets and earthen pots on the island because he had had prior experience with such things. Another man in his place would not have fared so well, unless he had similar or otherwise applicable knowledge and experience.