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”
Tag Archives: history of science
Excursus 083 – On the Canonization Problem
Hossein Jorjani First publication: 2026 – 07 – 19 The history of science is often presented through the achievements of a relatively small number of celebrated individuals. Copernicus, Galileo, Newton, Darwin, Einstein, and a few others have become canonical figures whose discoveries symbolize entire scientific disciplines. Their prominence is fully deserved. Yet an exclusive focusContinue reading “Excursus 083 – On the Canonization Problem”
Excursus 082 – On the Age Problem
Hossein Jorjani First publication: 2026 – 07 – 19 Scientific knowledge is historically cumulative. Theories are revised, methods are refined, instruments become more powerful, and standards of evidence evolve. Consequently, any philosophical account of science must distinguish between the historical development of a scientific discipline and its present methodological state. This gives rise to whatContinue reading “Excursus 082 – On the Age Problem”
Excursus 076 – On the Historical Lag Between Science and Its Critics
Hossein Jorjani First publication: 2026 – 07 – 19 Intellectual criticism does not always evolve at the same pace as the ideas it seeks to criticize. As scientific theories and methods develop, philosophical critiques may continue to address earlier conceptions that have already been substantially transformed or abandoned. The result is a historical lag betweenContinue reading “Excursus 076 – On the Historical Lag Between Science and Its Critics”
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”
Excursus 047 – On the Growth of Fields of Expertise
Hossein Jorjani First publication: 2026 – 07 – 18 The history of knowledge is, in large measure, the history of intellectual differentiation. In antiquity, philosophy (philosophia) embraced nearly every systematic inquiry into nature, humanity, and society. Aristotle’s division of knowledge into theoretical, practical, and productive sciences established a broad framework from which later disciplines graduallyContinue reading “Excursus 047 – On the Growth of Fields of Expertise”
Excursus 041 – The Productive Role of Imperfect Data
Hossein Jorjani First publication: 2026 – 06 – 30 Some historians of science have suggested that the imperfections of Galileo’s telescopes, rather than hindering discovery, were in fact instrumental to his success. The blurred and edge-distorted images forced him to interpret what he saw conceptually, using geometry and analogy rather than photographic realism. Because theContinue reading “Excursus 041 – The Productive Role of Imperfect Data”
Excursus 036 – On Scriptures and Science
Hossein Jorjani First publication: 2026 – 06 – 30 In modern science, references to God or Scripture are absent from scientific discourse. This reflects the principle of methodological naturalism, in which science explains phenomena solely in terms of natural causes and observable evidence. While individual scientists may hold personal religious beliefs, such beliefs are notContinue reading “Excursus 036 – On Scriptures and Science”
Excursus 012 – On Transmutability
Hossein Jorjani First publication: 2026 – 06 – 30 The alchemists’ belief in the fixed “kinds” of metals drew upon the Platonic–Aristotelian tradition of essential forms, according to which each natural substance possessed a defining essence that determined its identity. The repeated failure to transmute one metal into another was taken by many as confirmationContinue reading “Excursus 012 – On Transmutability”
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 