Hossein Jorjani First publication: 2026 – 09 – 12 Consider the familiar transformation: Ice ↔ liquid water ↔ water vapor Hegel used the different phases of water as an example of the transition from quantitative to qualitative change. A gradual alteration in temperature, he observed, does not merely make water progressively warmer or colder. AtContinue reading “Excursus 141 — On the Materialization of Hegelian Dialectic”
Tag Archives: Marx
Excursus 136 – Science, Wissenschaft, and the Changing Boundaries of Knowledge
Hossein Jorjani First publication: 2026 – 08 – 09 The English words science and scientific appear so familiar that a contemporary reader may assume their meanings remain approximately constant whenever they occur in an older philosophical or sociological text. This assumption is unsafe. Words translated as science have belonged to linguistic and intellectual settings inContinue reading “Excursus 136 – Science, Wissenschaft, and the Changing Boundaries of Knowledge”
Excursus 130 – On Eponymous Schools of Thought
Hossein Jorjani First publication: 2026 – 08 – 06 The names given to schools of thought are not always intellectually innocent. A name may begin as a convenient historical label and gradually influence how a theory is defined, interpreted, and defended. The problem is particularly acute when a theory or intellectual tradition is named afterContinue reading “Excursus 130 – On Eponymous Schools of Thought”
Excursus 122 – On the Interpretive Authority of Early and Late Writings
Hossein Jorjani First publication: 2026 – 07 – 27 When philosophers and scientists write repeatedly on the same subject over many years, an important methodological question arises: Which writings should be given the greatest interpretive authority when reconstructing the author’s position? A useful comparison may be drawn from the natural sciences. A scientist may publishContinue reading “Excursus 122 – On the Interpretive Authority of Early and Late Writings”
Excursus 118 – On the Metaphysical and Historical Senses of Materialism
Hossein Jorjani First publication: 2026 – 07 – 23 The term materialism has been used in philosophy in several distinct senses, and failure to distinguish them has been a frequent source of confusion. In metaphysical (or ontological) materialism, represented classically by Hobbes, materialism is a theory of reality. It holds that only material substance existsContinue reading “Excursus 118 – On the Metaphysical and Historical Senses of Materialism”
Excursus 116 – On the Origin of Marx’s Concept of Alienation
Hossein Jorjani First publication: 2026 – 07 – 23 Marx did not invent the concept of alienation (Entfremdung). Rather, he inherited it through the German philosophical tradition and fundamentally transformed its meaning. The immediate philosophical source was Hegel, for whom alienation (Entäußerung or Entfremdung) denoted the externalization of Spirit. In Hegel’s system, Spirit objectifies itselfContinue reading “Excursus 116 – On the Origin of Marx’s Concept of Alienation”
Excursus 110 – On the Meaning of Contradiction
Hossein Jorjani First publication: 2026 – 07 – 22 The term contradiction has acquired different meanings in different philosophical traditions. Unless these meanings are distinguished, discussions of dialectic and philosophical method can easily become confused. In formal logic, a contradiction is stronger than a mere opposition or distinction. Two propositions are contradictory when they cannotContinue reading “Excursus 110 – On the Meaning of Contradiction”
Excursus 054 – On the Hermeneutics of “Dialectic”
Hossein Jorjani First publication: 2026 – 07 – 18 The term dialectic has accumulated multiple and often incompatible meanings over the course of its history. Contemporary discussions frequently employ the term without specifying which dialectical tradition is intended. As a result, ideas drawn from thinkers such as Hegel, Marx, Engels, Lukács, Sartre, Adorno, Gurvitch, Bhaskar,Continue reading “Excursus 054 – On the Hermeneutics of “Dialectic””
Excursus 044 – On the Primacy of Movement in Dialectical Thought
Hossein Jorjani First publication: 2026 – 07 – 16 Throughout much of the history of dialectical thought, contradiction has increasingly come to be regarded as the defining feature of dialectic. From Plato through Kant, Fichte, Hegel, and Marx, dialectical development was progressively interpreted in terms of opposition, negation, conflict, or contradiction. By the nineteenth century,Continue reading “Excursus 044 – On the Primacy of Movement in Dialectical Thought”
Hossein Jorjani 