A characterization of the ideas of Francis Bacon and Edward Coke, two preeminent English lawyer-scholars, provides insights into the nature of the legal–intellectual culture of early seventeenth-century England. This emerging culture remains underexplored, even though it immediately preceded and provided essential input into the ‘culture of growth,' the eighteenth-century cultural paradigm viewed as a catalyst for England's historically unprecedented technological advance and economic growth. To develop insights, we employ a methodology not previously used in this context, applying structural topic modeling to a large corpus comprising the works of both Bacon and Coke. Estimated topics span legal, political, scientific, and methodological themes. Legal topics evidence an advanced structure of common-law thought, straddling ostensibly disparate areas of the law. Interconnections between topics reveal a distinctive approach to the pursuit of knowledge, embodying Bacon's epistemology and Coke's legal methodology. A key similarity between Bacon and Coke overshadows their differences: both sought to build reliable knowledge based on generalizing from particulars. The resulting methodological paradigm can be understood as reflecting a legacy of common-law thought and constituting a key contribution to the era's emerging legal–intellectual culture. More generally, our analysis illustrates how machine learning applied to primary texts can aid in exploration of culture.

弗朗西斯·培根（Francis Bacon）和爱德华·可口可乐（Edward Coke）这两位杰出的英国律师学者的思想特征，为人们提供了对十七世纪初英国法律知识文化本质的洞见。即使这种新兴文化紧随其后，但仍未得到充分开发，并为“增长文化”提供了必要的投入。十八世纪的文化范式被视为英国历史上前所未有的技术进步和经济增长的催化剂。为了获得见解，我们采用了以前在这种情况下不使用的方法，将结构主题建模应用于包含培根和可口可乐作品的大型语料库。估计的主题涵盖法律，政治，科学和方法论主题。法律主题证明了普通法思想的先进结构，跨越表面上完全不同的法律领域。主题之间的相互联系揭示了一种独特的知识追求方法，体现了培根的认识论和可口可乐的法律方法。培根和可口可乐之间的关键相似之处掩盖了它们之间的差异：两者都试图基于对细节的概括来建立可靠的知识。由此产生的方法范式可以理解为反映了普通法思想的遗产，并构成了对该时代新兴的法律知识文化的重要贡献。更广泛地说，我们的分析说明了将机器学习应用于主要文本可以如何帮助探索文化。培根和可口可乐之间的关键相似之处掩盖了它们之间的差异：两者都试图基于对细节的概括来建立可靠的知识。由此产生的方法范式可以理解为反映了普通法思想的遗产，并构成了对该时代新兴的法律知识文化的重要贡献。更广泛地说，我们的分析说明了将机器学习应用于原始文本的方式如何有助于文化探索。培根和可口可乐之间的关键相似之处掩盖了它们之间的差异：两者都试图基于对细节的概括来建立可靠的知识。由此产生的方法范式可以理解为反映了普通法思想的遗产，并构成了对该时代新兴的法律知识文化的重要贡献。更广泛地说，我们的分析说明了将机器学习应用于原始文本的方式如何有助于文化探索。