Hossein Jorjani First publication: 2026 – 07 – 19 Human knowledge is often described as provisional or incomplete. This incompleteness, however, does not arise from a single cause. At least four independent mechanisms may prevent knowledge from attaining complete correspondence with reality. Two of these arise from the nature of reality itself. First, reality mayContinue reading “Excursus 073 – On Four Sources of Epistemic Incompleteness”
Tag Archives: epistemology
Excursus 072 – On Degrees of Objectivity
Hossein Jorjani First publication: 2026 – 07 – 19 The recognition that complete objectivity may be unattainable should not lead to the conclusion that all disciplines possess the same degree of objectivity. The extent to which the observer influences the observed varies considerably across domains of inquiry. In many areas of the natural sciences, theContinue reading “Excursus 072 – On Degrees of Objectivity”
Excursus 070 – On the Distinction Between Epistemological and Ontological Claims
Hossein Jorjani First publication: 2026 – 07 – 19 Discussions of scientific inquiry often emphasize that knowledge is acquired, interpreted, and communicated by human beings. This is an epistemological claim: all knowledge is produced within particular historical, linguistic, and social contexts. It concerns how human beings come to know the world. Such claims should notContinue reading “Excursus 070 – On the Distinction Between Epistemological and Ontological Claims”
Excursus 066 – On the Four Epistemic Modes of Modern Science
Hossein Jorjani First publication: 2026 – 07 – 18 Since the Scientific Revolution, observation and experiment have traditionally been regarded as the two principal sources of scientific knowledge. Observation acquires data from naturally occurring phenomena without deliberate intervention, whereas experiment generates data by systematically manipulating conditions to test specific hypotheses. These two modes formed theContinue reading “Excursus 066 – On the Four Epistemic Modes of Modern Science”
Excursus 064 – On Viewing the Same Problem from Different Perspectives
Hossein Jorjani First publication: 2026 – 07 – 18 Philosophical disagreements often appear deeper than they really are because different thinkers approach the same underlying problem from different conceptual perspectives. Like observers standing on opposite sides of the same mountain, they describe what they see in different languages, emphasize different features, and sometimes fail toContinue reading “Excursus 064 – On Viewing the Same Problem from Different Perspectives”
Excursus 061 – On Theory-Ladenness and Scientific Objectivity
Hossein Jorjani First publication: 2026 – 07 – 18 During the twentieth century, philosophers of science increasingly emphasized that observation is theory-laden. Measurements, classifications, and experimental observations do not arise independently of prior concepts, assumptions, instruments, or methods of interpretation. Every observation presupposes some theoretical framework within which it acquires meaning. This recognition represented anContinue reading “Excursus 061 – On Theory-Ladenness and Scientific Objectivity”
Excursus 060 – On the Problem of Induction after Hume
Hossein Jorjani First publication: 2026 – 07 – 18 David Hume’s critique of induction is widely regarded as one of the decisive turning points in the philosophy of science. Hume did not deny that human beings routinely generalize from experience, nor did he question the practical success of scientific prediction. His challenge was more fundamental:Continue reading “Excursus 060 – On the Problem of Induction after Hume”
Excursus 058 – On the Ecology of Inference
Hossein Jorjani First publication: 2026 – 07 – 18 It is often assumed that induction, deduction, Bayesian inference, and inference to the best explanation (IBE) are competing accounts of scientific reasoning. An alternative perspective is that they represent complementary modes of inference whose relative usefulness depends upon the quantity, organization, and reliability of the availableContinue reading “Excursus 058 – On the Ecology of Inference”
Excursus 057 – On Positivism
Hossein Jorjani First publication: 2026 – 07 – 18 The term “positivism” is today employed more often by its critics than as a self-description by its proponents or alleged proponents. Consequently, discussions of positivism frequently proceed without an explicit definition of the position under criticism. In the present work, the term is therefore used inContinue reading “Excursus 057 – On Positivism”
Excursus 056 – On the Three Dimensions of an Academic Discipline
Hossein Jorjani First publication: 2026 – 07 – 19 Every mature academic discipline may be distinguished into three related but conceptually separate dimensions: the discipline itself, its history, and its philosophy. Although these dimensions interact continuously, they pursue different questions and employ different methods. Failure to distinguish them often leads to confusion about the natureContinue reading “Excursus 056 – On the Three Dimensions of an Academic Discipline”
Hossein Jorjani 