Hossein Jorjani First publication: 2026 – 07 – 18 Since the Scientific Revolution, observation and experiment have traditionally been regarded as the two principal sources of scientific knowledge. Observation acquires data from naturally occurring phenomena without deliberate intervention, whereas experiment generates data by systematically manipulating conditions to test specific hypotheses. These two modes formed theContinue reading “Excursus 066 – On the Four Epistemic Modes of Modern Science”
Tag Archives: scientific method
Excursus 060 – On the Problem of Induction after Hume
Hossein Jorjani First publication: 2026 – 07 – 18 David Hume’s critique of induction is widely regarded as one of the decisive turning points in the philosophy of science. Hume did not deny that human beings routinely generalize from experience, nor did he question the practical success of scientific prediction. His challenge was more fundamental:Continue reading “Excursus 060 – On the Problem of Induction after Hume”
Excursus 058 – On the Ecology of Inference
Hossein Jorjani First publication: 2026 – 07 – 18 It is often assumed that induction, deduction, Bayesian inference, and inference to the best explanation (IBE) are competing accounts of scientific reasoning. An alternative perspective is that they represent complementary modes of inference whose relative usefulness depends upon the quantity, organization, and reliability of the availableContinue reading “Excursus 058 – On the Ecology of Inference”
Excursus 057 – On Positivism
Hossein Jorjani First publication: 2026 – 07 – 18 The term “positivism” is today employed more often by its critics than as a self-description by its proponents or alleged proponents. Consequently, discussions of positivism frequently proceed without an explicit definition of the position under criticism. In the present work, the term is therefore used inContinue reading “Excursus 057 – On Positivism”
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 055 – On Mental Faculties and the Division of Academic Disciplines
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”
Excursus 046 – On Natura Non Facit Saltus
Hossein Jorjani First publication: 2026 – 07 – 18 The maxim natura non facit saltus (“nature makes no leaps”) has long served both as a methodological principle and as an ontological hypothesis. Methodologically, it directs inquiry toward identifying intermediate stages and causal connections rather than accepting apparent discontinuities as ultimate explanations. Ontologically, it expresses theContinue reading “Excursus 046 – On Natura Non Facit Saltus”
Excursus 043 – From Pedagogical Models to Ontological Commitments
Hossein Jorjani First publication: 2026 – 06 – 30 Scientific education commonly proceeds by means of simplified models. Because complex systems are difficult to understand in their full generality, instruction often begins with deliberately unrealistic cases that isolate a single principle while suppressing complicating factors. Such models serve an indispensable pedagogical function: they provide theContinue reading “Excursus 043 – From Pedagogical Models to Ontological Commitments”
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 038 – On AI as External Cognitive Infrastructure
Hossein Jorjani First publication: 2026 – 06 – 30 AI systems, now and in the future, may function as components of an external cognitive infrastructure for scientific inquiry. Their potential roles include: (1) storing and retrieving data as an augmented external memory; (2) structuring and organizing recorded experience, functioning as an inference machine that extractsContinue reading “Excursus 038 – On AI as External Cognitive Infrastructure”
Hossein Jorjani 