Hossein Jorjani First publication: 2026 – 07 – 20 Every scientific inquiry begins with selection. No researcher can investigate every problem, read every publication, examine every hypothesis, or pursue every promising idea. Scientific work is therefore conducted under conditions of scarcity: time, attention, funding, personnel, and institutional resources are all limited. Selection should not beContinue reading “Excursus 096 – On Selection in Scientific Inquiry”
Tag Archives: epistemology
Excursus 092 – On Structured Inference
Hossein Jorjani First publication: 2026 – 07 – 19 Much of classical statistical inference derives its strength from repeated observations and probabilistic regularities. An equally important source of scientific knowledge, however, arises from structure. In many disciplines, inference succeeds not primarily because observations are numerous but because they are constrained by systematic relationships. Such constraintsContinue reading “Excursus 092 – On Structured Inference”
Excursus 091 – On Reconstruction as a Form of Scientific Inference
Hossein Jorjani First publication: 2026 – 07 – 19 Scientific inference is commonly discussed in terms of interpolation and extrapolation. Yet many important forms of modern scientific reasoning belong to neither category. They are better understood as instances of reconstruction. Interpolation estimates unknown values that lie within an observed domain. Extrapolation extends established relationships beyondContinue reading “Excursus 091 – On Reconstruction as a Form of Scientific Inference”
Excursus 089 – On Doubt as a Method of Conceptual Revision
Hossein Jorjani First publication: 2026 – 07 – 19 Doubt has often been misunderstood as either a temporary stage on the path to certainty or a permanent condition of skepticism. Both conceptions overlook a more fundamental epistemological function. The enduring value of doubt lies not in uncertainty itself but in its capacity to stimulate theContinue reading “Excursus 089 – On Doubt as a Method of Conceptual Revision”
Excursus 088 – On the Historical Functions of Doubt
Hossein Jorjani First publication: 2026 – 07 – 19 Philosophical doubt has never constituted a single method or pursued a single objective. Although many traditions have employed questioning, criticism, and the exposure of contradictions, they have done so for fundamentally different purposes. The history of dialectic is therefore also a history of changing conceptions ofContinue reading “Excursus 088 – On the Historical Functions of Doubt”
Excursus 087 – On Three Historical Functions of Dialectic
Hossein Jorjani First publication: 2026 – 07 – 19 Histories of dialectic usually distinguish among philosophers, schools, or historical periods. Equally important, however, is the function that dialectic serves within different intellectual traditions. The same term has been employed for fundamentally different purposes, and these differences are not always made explicit. Three broad historical functionsContinue reading “Excursus 087 – On Three Historical Functions of Dialectic”
Excursus 086 – On the Reciprocity Between Philosophy and Science
Hossein Jorjani First publication: 2026 – 07 – 20 Philosophy and science are often presented as separate intellectual enterprises, or as disciplines standing in a hierarchical relationship to one another. Neither characterization adequately reflects their historical development. Throughout the history of knowledge, philosophy and science have repeatedly influenced and transformed one another in a continuousContinue reading “Excursus 086 – On the Reciprocity Between Philosophy and Science”
Excursus 085 – On Disciplinary Isolation
Hossein Jorjani First publication: 2026 – 07 – 19 The expansion of human knowledge has made scientific specialization unavoidable. No individual can master the methods, literature, and technical developments of every discipline. As knowledge accumulates, researchers necessarily devote increasing attention to narrower fields of inquiry, thereby advancing the depth and precision of specialized research. Specialization,Continue reading “Excursus 085 – On Disciplinary Isolation”
Excursus 080 – On Probability and the Transformation of Modern Science
Hossein Jorjani First publication: 2026 – 07 – 19 Science is often associated with certainty. Popular accounts frequently portray scientific knowledge as the discovery of universal laws that establish facts beyond reasonable doubt. Historically, however, the development of modern science has followed a different trajectory. Rather than moving toward absolute certainty, many scientific disciplines haveContinue reading “Excursus 080 – On Probability and the Transformation of Modern Science”
Excursus 074 – On the Uneven Distribution of Human Knowledge
Hossein Jorjani First publication: 2026 – 07 – 19 Knowledge is neither complete nor uniformly incomplete. Human understanding is distributed unevenly across different domains of reality. Some phenomena are understood with considerable precision and reliability, whereas others remain only partially understood or are presently beyond our investigative reach. This unevenness reflects the fact that theContinue reading “Excursus 074 – On the Uneven Distribution of Human Knowledge”
Hossein Jorjani 