Hossein Jorjani First publication: 2026 – 07 – 19 Historical influence should not be confused with direct textual transmission. The doctrines associated with major thinkers seldom reach later generations solely through the original texts. More often they are transmitted through successive generations of interpretation, teaching, commentary, translation, adaptation, and institutional practice. As a result, theContinue reading “Excursus 071 – On Intellectual Traditions as Evolving Populations”
Tag Archives: intellectual inheritance
Excursus 065 – On the Ripley Principle: The Evolution of Ideas
Hossein Jorjani First publication: 2026 – 07 – 18 Scientific and philosophical ideas rarely emerge in their final form. Their first appearance is often incomplete, imprecise, or even misleading. Concepts are proposed, criticized, revised, abandoned, reformulated, and sometimes rediscovered under new names. What later generations recognize as a successful theory is frequently the result ofContinue reading “Excursus 065 – On the Ripley Principle: The Evolution of Ideas”
Excursus 019 – On Intellectual Inheritance, Conceptual Anagenesis, and the Three-Generation Heuristic
Hossein Jorjani First publication: 2026 – 06 – 30 Ideas are transmitted through intellectual lineages in a manner that resembles biological inheritance. A concept may pass from one thinker to another, retaining its name while gradually altering its function, scope, and internal meaning. In studying the history of ideas, one must therefore distinguish between verbalContinue reading “Excursus 019 – On Intellectual Inheritance, Conceptual Anagenesis, and the Three-Generation Heuristic”
Hossein Jorjani 