Hossein Jorjani First publication: 2026 – 06 – 30 It may be argued that, alongside the two methodological paths described by Bacon, there exists a third path that begins from experience but allows for the early projection of broad hypotheses, which then guide the search for intermediate propositions and empirical tests. These high-level generalizations guideContinue reading “Excursus 016 – On the Progression of Science”
Tag Archives: Francis Bacon
Excursus 015 – On Mathematical Analysis and in silico Experiments
Hossein Jorjani First publication: 2026 – 06 – 30 Bacon’s methodological framework assumed the universal applicability of experimentation, an assumption that modern science has found only partly sustainable. In many domains— including astronomy, evolutionary biology, cosmology, and historical human development —direct experimental manipulation of phenomena is not feasible, whether for practical or ethical reasons. InContinue reading “Excursus 015 – On Mathematical Analysis and in silico Experiments”
Excursus 014 – On Dualism
Hossein Jorjani First publication: 2026 – 06 – 30 The appearance of paired opposites in Bacon’s examples (“hot/cold,” “white/black”) should not be taken as evidence of a dualistic worldview. These pairs were part of the inherited scientific and rhetorical vocabulary of his time—convenient, vivid, and pedagogically familiar—but not philosophically binding. Bacon’s underlying physics was continuist,Continue reading “Excursus 014 – On Dualism”
Excursus 011 – On the Concept of Species
Hossein Jorjani First publication: 2026 – 06 – 30 In Aristotelian logic, the species infimae (“lowest species”) occupied the final level of the genus–species hierarchy—the most specific universals that could still apply to more than one individual. They marked the boundary between universal and particular, serving as the lowest kinds that could figure in scientificContinue reading “Excursus 011 – On the Concept of Species”
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”
Excursus 008 – On the Scientific and Philosophical Senses of “Truth”
Hossein Jorjani First publication: 2026 – 06 – 30Revised: 2026 – 09 – 06 In Aphorism I:12 of the Novum Organum (1620), Bacon argues that the logic inherited from the scholastic tradition serves less to discover truth than to preserve and stabilize errors arising from widely accepted but defective notions. He therefore contrasts the prevailingContinue reading “Excursus 008 – On the Scientific and Philosophical Senses of “Truth””
Excursus 007 – On the Term “Notion” (Notio) in Bacon and Aristotle
Hossein Jorjani First publication: 2026 – 06 – 30 Bacon’s use of notio (“notion”) retained the Aristotelian conception of a form in the soul or intellect (μορφή ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ), yet fundamentally transformed its epistemological function. In Aristotelian psychology and logic, a notion denoted the intellect’s grasp of the universal—an abstraction derived from sense perceptionContinue reading “Excursus 007 – On the Term “Notion” (Notio) in Bacon and Aristotle”
Excursus 004 – On Bacon’s Use of the Term Dialectic
Hossein Jorjani First publication: 2026 – 06 – 30 In the Novum Organum (1620), Bacon employs the terms “dialectic” and “dialectical” in a specifically syllogistic sense: a scholastic structure of reasoning that proceeds syllogistically from received axioms. The term therefore designates a formal apparatus of argumentation—major premise, minor premise, and conclusion—rather than dialogical exchange orContinue reading “Excursus 004 – On Bacon’s Use of the Term Dialectic”
Excursus 002 – On Axiom and First Principles in Aristotle, Euclid, and Bacon
Hossein Jorjani First publication: 2026 – 06 – 30 The history of the term axioma illustrates an important transformation in the foundations of knowledge, culminating in Francis Bacon’s redefinition of axioms as products of induction rather than self-evident truths. The Greek term ἀξίωμα (axiōma) was employed by both Aristotle and Euclid, yet with markedly differentContinue reading “Excursus 002 – On Axiom and First Principles in Aristotle, Euclid, and Bacon”
Excursus 001 – On the Organon and the Novum Organum
Hossein Jorjani First publication: 2026 – 06 – 30 Francis Bacon’s Instauratio magna (1620) is often regarded as the manifesto of the early modern scientific revolution. Less frequently noticed is that its six-part structure was deliberately modeled on Aristotle’s Organon. Bacon’s Instauratio magna (“Great Renewal”) was conceived in deliberate correspondence with Aristotle’s Organon (“Instrument”), theContinue reading “Excursus 001 – On the Organon and the Novum Organum”
Hossein Jorjani 