Fogo e Ciência Moderna no mito de Prometeu: reflexões à luz da filosofia baconiana

Marcelo Araujo Gaudêncio; Graziele Borges de Oliveira Pena; Marta Maria Darsie; Jacqueline Borges de Paula

doi:10.15448/1984-6746.2026.1.48234

Authors

Marcelo Araujo Gaudêncio Federal University of Mato Grosso (UFMT), Cuiabá campus, Cuiabá, Mato Grosso, Brazil. https://orcid.org/0009-0005-1097-4970
Graziele Borges de Oliveira Pena Federal University of Mato Grosso (UFMT), Araguaia University Campus, Pontal do Araguaia, Mato Grosso, Brazil. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1131-7789
Marta Maria Darsie Federal University of Mato Grosso (UFMT), Cuiabá campus, Cuiabá, Mato Grosso, Brazil. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1255-6546
Jacqueline Borges de Paula Federal University of Mato Grosso (UFMT), Cuiabá campus, Cuiabá, Mato Grosso, Brazil. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3927-9574

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15448/1984-6746.2026.1.48234

Keywords:

Science, nature, philosophy, ethics, Francis Bacon

Abstract

The genesis of Modern Science touches on the philosophies of the empiricist Francis Bacon regarding man as responsible for understanding and dominating nature. However, as human beings gain such power over the natural world, reflections related to the ethics of scientific practice become necessary, considering the eminent success of Baconian philosophy in contemporary times. At the same time, fire constitutes a central element in the history of science as a natural instrument, or product of scientific advancement, being used in the practices of alchemy, for example. The aspects that represent Modern Science and fire, a symbol of scientific progress, are discussed by Bacon in analogies from the myth of Prometheus, a figure from Greek mythology, to address issues discussed in this theoretical essay regarding the scientist, interpreter of nature, and ethics, an instrument inherent to work.

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Author Biographies

Marcelo Araujo Gaudêncio, Federal University of Mato Grosso (UFMT), Cuiabá campus, Cuiabá, Mato Grosso, Brazil.

Holds a degree in Chemistry from the Federal University of Mato Grosso (2023). Currently pursuing a Master's degree in the Postgraduate Program in Education at the Federal University of Mato Grosso (PPGE/UFMT) in the research area of Science Education and Mathematics Education, with a CAPES scholarship and a member of the Research Group in Chemistry Education of Araguaia (UFMT).

Graziele Borges de Oliveira Pena, Federal University of Mato Grosso (UFMT), Araguaia University Campus, Pontal do Araguaia, Mato Grosso, Brazil.

Adjunct Professor since 2010 at the Federal University of Mato Grosso (UFMT), Araguaia University Campus (CUA) – Institute of Exact and Earth Sciences (ICET) in the Chemistry Licentiate Program. Professor in the Postgraduate Program in Education at UFMT/Cuiabá. PhD in Chemistry (2018) from the Postgraduate Chemistry Department of UFG in the area of concentration of Chemistry Education. Master's degree in Chemistry (2010) from the Postgraduate Chemistry Department of the Federal University of Uberlândia (UFU) in the area of concentration of Chemistry Education with emphasis on Teacher Training. Holds a Bachelor's degree in Chemistry: Licentiate and Bachelor's (2004) from UFU. Researcher in the area of Chemistry Education. Subareas: Teacher Training, Beginning of the Teaching Career, Programs for Insertion into Teaching, History and Epistemology of Science, Epistemology of Professional Knowledge for Teachers in Chemistry, Development of the PCKC (Professional Knowledge and Curriculum), Professionalization of the teaching career, Learning Theory and Curriculum. Researcher and leader of the GPEQA Research Group – Research Group in Chemistry Education of Araguaia.

Marta Maria Darsie, Federal University of Mato Grosso (UFMT), Cuiabá campus, Cuiabá, Mato Grosso, Brazil.

Holds a degree in Pedagogy, with qualifications in Teaching and School Supervision (1982) and in School Administration (1983) from the Faculty of Philosophy, Sciences and Letters of Palmas, Paraná. Specialization in Teacher Training and Performance in the Educational Reality, from the Faculty of Philosophy, Sciences and Letters of Palmas (1984); specialization in Methodology of Mathematics Teaching from 1st to 4th grade from the Federal University of Mato Grosso (1986). Master's degree in Education from the Federal University of Mato Grosso (1992) and doctorate in Education from the University of São Paulo (USP, 1998). She has been a professor at the Federal University of Mato Grosso since 1986, and a research professor in the Postgraduate Program in Education at the Federal University of Mato Grosso since 1999. She is a research professor in the Doctoral Postgraduate Program in Science and Mathematics Education – PPGECEM-REAMEC (since 2010). She is also a research professor in the Postgraduate Program in Teaching – UNIC/IFMT. She is a research professor in the Professional Master's Program in Natural Sciences and Mathematics – UFMT/SINOP. She leads the study and research group in Mathematics Education, GRUEPEM. Her research focuses on teaching, with an emphasis on Science and Mathematics Education, mainly on the following themes: Mathematics Education, Teacher Training, Learning Assessment, Metacognition and Mathematics, Learning Difficulties in Mathematics (DAM), and Youth and Adult Education.

Jacqueline Borges de Paula, Federal University of Mato Grosso (UFMT), Cuiabá campus, Cuiabá, Mato Grosso, Brazil.

Doctor of Mathematics Education from the Postgraduate Program at UFMT, Institute of Education, Research Line: Science and Mathematics Education. Master of Mathematics Education from the Postgraduate Program at the Institute of Education, Research Line: Science and Mathematics Education. Member of the Study and Research Group in Mathematics Education (GRUEPEM) led by Professor Dr. Marta Maria Pontin Darsie and the Research and Investigation Group on the Foundations of Mathematical Knowledge with a Semiotic Approach, coordinated by Professor Michael Friedrich Otte. She holds a degree in Mathematics from the Federal University of Mato Grosso (1998), a degree in Sciences also from the Federal University of Mato Grosso (1985), a degree in Tourism from the Higher Education Center of Rondonópolis (2004), a specialization in General Didactics (Unesp, 2001), and a specialization in Tourism and Environment (Cesur, 2006). She works as a professor at the Institute of Education of the Federal University of Mato Grosso (UFMT) in the Pedagogy course, and in the PPGE/IE/UFMT Postgraduate Program as a researcher of the teaching, learning, and evaluation process of Mathematics from an epistemological and semiotic methodological perspective, within the Research and Study Group in Mathematics Education, Institute of Education of the Federal University of Mato Grosso.

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