‘El curioso impertinente’ as Empiricism's Folly

Abstract

This article proposes a new model for interpreting 'el curioso impertinente', the interpolated novela in El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha (1605). After underscoring the difficulties of relating the Quijote to sixteenth-century scepticism, i show how the 'curioso' is ideal for a treatment of epistemological questions. i argue that the novela gives fictional life to an epistemology of experimentation similar to what Francis Bacon presents in The Advancement of Learning (1605). in The Advancement of Learning, Bacon warns against the dangers of applying his empirical methods to questions of faith. 'El curioso impertinente' shows that these concerns are justified.Resumen este artículo propone un nuevo modelo para interpretar 'el curioso impertinente', la novela intercalada de El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha (1605). Después de subrayar las dificultades de relacionar el Quijote con el escepticismo del siglo XVi, demuestro cómo el 'curioso' es ideal para tratar las cuestiones de epistemología. Sostengo que la novela da vida imaginativa a una epistemología basada en la experimentación, la cual es parecida a la epistemología que Francis Bacon presenta en The Advancement of Learning (1605). en The Advancement of Learning, Bacon advierte que sería peligroso aplicar sus métodos empíricos a las cuestiones de fe. 'el curioso impertinente' enseña que las inquietudes de Bacon tienen justificación.Previous efforts to understand Don Quijote in relation to early modern epistemologies single out the influence of sixteenth-century neo-scepticism.1 These approaches begin with the claim that in Don Quijote, especially the first part, we find characters holding alternative, and often incompatible, views of reality. 2 A barber's basin to one is a helmet to another and to a third, a marketable good waiting to be liquidated. At the least, disagreements among characters about the nature of a thing -whether the thing is an inn, a windmill, or a baciyelmo -