This essay examines the contributions of Abraham Cowley's poetry to the development of Royal Society scientific methods in the seventeenth century, particularly through Cowley's clarification of the forms of cognitive bias that Francis Bacon called "idols of the mind." We should understand many of Cowley's poetic choices and stylistic recommendations as part of an effort to illustrate and shape the cognitive habits necessary for experimental science in the Baconian tradition. Beyond stylistic recommendations, Cowley was interested in understanding what makes for accurate perception and reasoned judgment, both of which were essential to poets and experimental scientists alike in this formative period. This essay places Cowley's poetry in the context of seventeenth-century conventions for style and perception among experimental scientists and concludes by examining how Thomas Sprat, Royal Society historian and Cowley's literary executor, understood the value of Cowley's poetry to Royal Society epistemological aims.

本文探讨了亚伯拉罕·考利的诗歌对十七世纪皇家学会科学方法发展的贡献，特别是通过考利对弗朗西斯·培根所谓的“心灵偶像”的认知偏见形式的澄清。我们应该理解考利的许多诗歌选择和文体建议，作为阐明和塑造培根传统中实验科学所必需的认知习惯的努力的一部分。除了文体建议之外，考利还对理解准确感知和理性判断的影响因素感兴趣，这两者对于这个形成时期的诗人和实验科学家来说都是至关重要的。本文将考利的诗歌置于十七世纪实验科学家的风格和感知惯例的背景下，并通过研究皇家学会历史学家和考利的文学执行者托马斯·斯普拉特如何理解考利的诗歌对皇家学会认识论目标的价值来得出结论。