Hossein Jorjani First publication: 2026 – 07 – 07 Readers familiar with both the history of philosophy and the history of science often notice a striking difference in the way these disciplines are commonly presented. Histories of philosophy frequently appear as continuous conversations extending across centuries. Plato proposes an idea; Aristotle develops or criticizes it;Continue reading “Excursus 107 – Continuity, Rupture, and Conflict in the History of Ideas”
Tag Archives: conceptual change
Excursus 065 – On the Ripley Principle: The Evolution of Ideas
Hossein Jorjani First publication: 2026 – 07 – 18 Scientific and philosophical ideas rarely emerge in their final form. Their first appearance is often incomplete, imprecise, or even misleading. Concepts are proposed, criticized, revised, abandoned, reformulated, and sometimes rediscovered under new names. What later generations recognize as a successful theory is frequently the result ofContinue reading “Excursus 065 – On the Ripley Principle: The Evolution of Ideas”
Excursus 053 – On the Identity of Scientific and Philosophical Theories
Hossein Jorjani First publication: 2026 – 07 – 18 Scientific and philosophical theories naturally evolve. Their concepts are refined, empirical claims revised, and new problems incorporated. The resulting continuity raises an important methodological question: at what point does a revised theory become a different theory? The identity of a theory cannot be reduced to itsContinue reading “Excursus 053 – On the Identity of Scientific and Philosophical Theories”
Excursus 052 – On the Retrospective Expansion of Historical Concepts
Hossein Jorjani First publication: 2026 – 07 – 18 Concepts are often coined to describe particular historical forms. As their explanatory success increases, they tend to expand retrospectively until they encompass earlier phenomena sharing only some of the defining characteristics of the original concept. Such expansion may be analytically useful, provided it is recognized asContinue reading “Excursus 052 – On the Retrospective Expansion of Historical Concepts”
Excursus 033 – On the Reciprocal Development of Philosophy and Science
Hossein Jorjani First publication: 2026 – 06 – 30 In Aphorism I:80 of the Novum Organum (1620), Bacon argues that the sciences lose depth and vitality when they become detached from natural philosophy, which he regarded as their common source. The following remarks do not attempt to restate Bacon’s hierarchical conception. Rather, they propose aContinue reading “Excursus 033 – On the Reciprocal Development of Philosophy and Science”
Excursus 019 – On Intellectual Inheritance, Conceptual Anagenesis, and the Three-Generation Heuristic
Hossein Jorjani First publication: 2026 – 06 – 30 Ideas are transmitted through intellectual lineages in a manner that resembles biological inheritance. A concept may pass from one thinker to another, retaining its name while gradually altering its function, scope, and internal meaning. In studying the history of ideas, one must therefore distinguish between verbalContinue reading “Excursus 019 – On Intellectual Inheritance, Conceptual Anagenesis, and the Three-Generation Heuristic”
Hossein Jorjani 