Hossein Jorjani First publication: 2026 – 07 – 18 The traditional division of the human mind into faculties such as sensation, perception, memory, imagination, understanding, reason, judgment, emotion, and will should not be understood as a map of sharply separated regions within the brain. These faculties are better regarded as functional distinctions: analytical categories usedContinue reading “Excursus 055 – On Mental Faculties and the Division of Academic Disciplines”
Tag Archives: epistemology
Excursus 039 – On Bacon’s Asymmetry of Induction and Deduction
Hossein Jorjani First publication: 2026 – 06 – 30 Bacon’s principal target of criticism in Novum Organum I:30 was the upward movement from particulars to general propositions. He argued that the traditional method, which he termed inductio vulgaris (“vulgar induction”), merely gathered instances, leapt prematurely to universal statements, and then relied on syllogistic demonstration toContinue reading “Excursus 039 – On Bacon’s Asymmetry of Induction and Deduction”
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 030 – On the Changing Landscape of Scientific Inquiry
Hossein Jorjani First publication: 2026 – 06 – 30 In Aphorism I:61 of the Novum Organum (1620), Bacon argues that disagreements with earlier philosophers concern not the destination—truth itself—but the path by which it is reached. He illustrates this by observing that a lame man who follows the correct road will eventually outstrip a runnerContinue reading “Excursus 030 – On the Changing Landscape of Scientific Inquiry”
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 026 – On the Asymmetry Between Verification and Falsification
Hossein Jorjani First publication: 2026 – 06 – 30 In Aphorism I:46 of the Novum Organum (1620), Bacon observed that the human intellect naturally favors confirming instances while overlooking or explaining away contrary evidence. He therefore concluded that, in the establishment of a true axiom, the negative instance possesses greater evidential force than the affirmative.Continue reading “Excursus 026 – On the Asymmetry Between Verification and Falsification”
Excursus 025 – On Epistemological Distortion
Hossein Jorjani First publication: 2026 – 06 – 30 The epistemological distortion identified by Bacon in Aphorism I:45 of the Novum Organum (1620)—the tendency of the human mind to impose order and correspondence where none existed—has numerous modern analogues. In theoretical physics, critics have argued that some highly mathematical theories risk allowing formal elegance andContinue reading “Excursus 025 – On Epistemological Distortion”
Excursus 024 – On the Anthropomorphic Mind and God
Hossein Jorjani First publication: 2026 – 06 – 30 Bacon’s discussion of the human tendency to impose imagined order upon nature, as presented in Aphorism I:45 of the Novum Organum (1620), has been interpreted by some later commentators as extending to the formation of anthropomorphic conceptions of God. This should not be understood as aContinue reading “Excursus 024 – On the Anthropomorphic Mind and God”
Excursus 023 – On the Significance of The “Man is the measure of all things.”
Hossein Jorjani First publication: 2026 – 06 – 30 Human perception of even the most apparently straightforward phenomena—such as color—varies significantly across individuals. Differences in sensory physiology, neural processing, developmental history, and learned categories mean that two people may both call an object “green” while experiencing qualitatively distinct sensations. Similar divergences appear in brightness perception,Continue reading “Excursus 023 – On the Significance of The “Man is the measure of all things.””
Excursus 022 – On the History of Systematic Cognitive Bias
Hossein Jorjani First publication: 2026 – 06 – 30 Although Roger Bacon’s offendicula provided an earlier catalogue of obstacles to knowledge, Francis Bacon’s doctrine of the idola represented a much broader and more systematic theory of cognitive error. His Idola Tribus, for instance, echoed ancient reflections—from Stoic and Epicurean traditions—that universal human nature distorted perception,Continue reading “Excursus 022 – On the History of Systematic Cognitive Bias”
Hossein Jorjani 