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”
Tag Archives: conceptual evolution
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 050 – On Scientific Growth
Hossein Jorjani First publication: 2026 – 07 – 18 The diversification of scientific disciplines may profitably be compared, with appropriate caution, to the diversification of biological species. The analogy is structural rather than mechanistic. Scientific disciplines do not reproduce biologically, yet they undergo recognizable processes of divergence, partial isolation, specialization, hybridization, and, occasionally, convergence. TheContinue reading “Excursus 050 – On Scientific Growth”
Excursus 049 – On Peripheral Innovation
Hossein Jorjani First publication: 2026 – 07 – 18 Biological evolution and intellectual history exhibit a striking structural parallel. In evolutionary biology, new species rarely arise within the large, stable center of a population, where continual interbreeding tends to preserve existing forms. Instead, significant evolutionary divergence often begins in small, geographically or reproductively isolated populationsContinue reading “Excursus 049 – On Peripheral Innovation”
Excursus 029 – On the Stability of Conceptual Definitions
Hossein Jorjani First publication: 2026 – 06 – 30 The persistence of a philosophical or scientific term does not guarantee the stability of the concept it denotes. Throughout the history of ideas, words have often remained unchanged while their meanings, explanatory functions, and theoretical contexts have undergone profound transformation. Bacon’s own treatment of Form illustratesContinue reading “Excursus 029 – On the Stability of Conceptual Definitions”
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”
Excursus 010 – On Induction: One Word, Several Meanings
Hossein Jorjani First publication: 2026 – 06 – 30 The first explicit use of the term inductio in the aphoristic sequence of the Novum Organum marks a structural and methodological transition. Bacon moves from diagnosing the corruption of notions to proposing the methodological alternative on which the Instauratio depends. To avoid attributing later developments toContinue reading “Excursus 010 – On Induction: One Word, Several Meanings”
Hossein Jorjani 