Hossein Jorjani
First publication: 2026 – 06 – 30
In Aphorism I:61 of the Novum Organum (1620), Bacon argues that disagreements with earlier philosophers concern not the destination—truth itself—but the path by which it is reached. He illustrates this by observing that a lame man who follows the correct road will eventually outstrip a runner who has taken the wrong one. This metaphor assumes a stable intellectual landscape through which inquiry progresses toward an enduring truth—an assumption not adopted in the present Excursus. In a world where the intellectual terrain itself shifts, keeping pace may be as important as direction. Lewis Carroll captured this paradox in the famous “Red Queen” dialogue from Through the Looking-Glass (1871, Ch. 2):
‘Well, in our country,’ said Alice, still panting a little, ‘you’d generally get to somewhere else—if you run very fast for a long time, as we’ve been doing.’
‘A slow sort of country!’ said the Queen. ‘Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!’
Although intended as literary fantasy, the image provides a useful metaphor for the development of knowledge. Scientific inquiry must continually revise its concepts, instruments, and theories simply to preserve explanatory adequacy in the face of new evidence. Progress therefore requires not only improved correspondence between theory and measurement, but constant refinement of the correspondence between reproducible measurements and explanatory theory within an evolving intellectual landscape.
Bacon, F. (1620) Novum Organum, Aphorism I-LXI (1:61)
But the Idols of the Theater are not innate, nor do they secretly creep into the intellect; rather, they are clearly instilled and accepted from the fictions of philosophical systems and the corrupt rules of demonstration. It is wholly inconsistent with what we have stated to attempt to refute these idols, for since we agree neither on first principles nor on the rules of demonstration, all argument becomes void. Yet this happens, not unfortunately, but with good consequence, since the honor of the ancients remains intact. Nothing is taken away from them, for the dispute concerns not the destination, but the path. As the saying goes: the lame man on the path outstrips the runner who goes astray. And indeed it is plainly evident that the more able and swift a person is who runs off course, the greater the deviation will be.
Hossein Jorjani 