Hossein Jorjani First publication: 2026 – 08 – 22 Discussions of alternative forms of ownership frequently rely on individual examples. A successful cooperative may be presented as evidence that cooperative ownership works, while a failed enterprise may be treated as evidence that it does not. Neither conclusion follows from an individual case. Exceptional success andContinue reading “Excursus 138 — On the Population-Level Assessment of Ownership Forms”
Author Archives: Hossein Jorjani
Excursus 137 — On the Epistemic Function of Public Enterprise
Hossein Jorjani First publication: 2026 – 08 – 22 Governments are expected to regulate enterprises, evaluate their claims, design economic policies, and respond when important sectors encounter difficulties. To perform these functions competently, public institutions require knowledge of how enterprises actually operate. Statistics, economic models, regulatory reports, audits, and consultation with private firms provide indispensableContinue reading “Excursus 137 — On the Epistemic Function of Public Enterprise”
Excursus 136 – Science, Wissenschaft, and the Changing Boundaries of Knowledge
Hossein Jorjani First publication: 2026 – 08 – 09 The English words science and scientific appear so familiar that a contemporary reader may assume their meanings remain approximately constant whenever they occur in an older philosophical or sociological text. This assumption is unsafe. Words translated as science have belonged to linguistic and intellectual settings inContinue reading “Excursus 136 – Science, Wissenschaft, and the Changing Boundaries of Knowledge”
Excursus 135 – On Interdisciplinary Brainstorming and the Responsibility to Listen
Hossein Jorjani First publication: 2026 – 08 – 08 Academic disciplines develop specialized concepts, methods, and standards of evidence because they study different objects and ask different questions. Such specialization is necessary, but it may also encourage the belief that an observation originating outside a discipline cannot be relevant until it has already been translatedContinue reading “Excursus 135 – On Interdisciplinary Brainstorming and the Responsibility to Listen”
Excursus 134 – On Correlation, Regression, and Causality: The Missing Counterfactual
Hossein Jorjani First publication: 2026 – 08 – 08 The proposition that “correlation does not imply causation” is among the most frequently repeated warnings in empirical research. Properly understood, it states that an observed association is not by itself sufficient to establish a causal relation. The same association may arise from direct causation, reverse causation,Continue reading “Excursus 134 – On Correlation, Regression, and Causality: The Missing Counterfactual”
Excursus 133 – Technical Concepts, Ordinary Language, and Conceptual Precision
Hossein Jorjani First publication: 2026 – 06 – 14 Many disciplines employ concepts whose meanings are determined not merely by dictionary definitions but by their positions within broader theoretical frameworks. To understand such a concept properly, one must therefore understand both its definition and its relationships to other components of the theory. One striking differenceContinue reading “Excursus 133 – Technical Concepts, Ordinary Language, and Conceptual Precision”
Excursus 132 – On Wittgenstein’s Ladder, Russell’s Paradox, and the Liar Paradox
Hossein Jorjani First publication: 2026 – 08 – 06 A peculiar difficulty arises whenever a statement, rule, or theory is allowed to apply to itself. The liar paradox, Russell’s paradox, and Wittgenstein’s ladder all involve forms of such self-application and are therefore naturally compared. Yet they should not be regarded as versions of the sameContinue reading “Excursus 132 – On Wittgenstein’s Ladder, Russell’s Paradox, and the Liar Paradox”
Excursus 131 – On the Asymmetry Between Construction and Collapse
Hossein Jorjani First publication: 2026 – 08 – 06 Construction and collapse are not symmetrical processes. A complex system ordinarily functions through the coordinated interaction of numerous components, and its construction therefore requires the establishment and adjustment of many relationships. Collapse makes no corresponding demand. A system whose operation depends upon several interdependent components mayContinue reading “Excursus 131 – On the Asymmetry Between Construction and Collapse”
Excursus 130 – On Eponymous Schools of Thought
Hossein Jorjani First publication: 2026 – 08 – 06 The names given to schools of thought are not always intellectually innocent. A name may begin as a convenient historical label and gradually influence how a theory is defined, interpreted, and defended. The problem is particularly acute when a theory or intellectual tradition is named afterContinue reading “Excursus 130 – On Eponymous Schools of Thought”
Excursus 129 – On the End of the Age of the Intellectual Giant
Hossein Jorjani First publication: 2026 – 08 – 06 The history of science and philosophy is commonly narrated through a relatively small number of extraordinary individuals. Newton, Darwin, Maxwell, and Einstein became associated with transformations of entire areas of science; Marx, Nietzsche, and Freud exercised influence extending far beyond the subjects in which their ideasContinue reading “Excursus 129 – On the End of the Age of the Intellectual Giant”
Hossein Jorjani 