Hossein Jorjani First publication: 2026 – 07 – 20 Philosophers are commonly evaluated according to such criteria as originality, logical consistency, conceptual clarity, influence, and historical significance. These are all important measures of philosophical achievement. Yet they do not exhaust the criteria by which philosophical work may be assessed. Philosophy has never developed independently ofContinue reading “Excursus 098 – On an Additional Criterion for Evaluating Philosophers”
Tag Archives: scientific progress
Excursus 086 – On the Reciprocity Between Philosophy and Science
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”
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 079 – On Quantification in Science
Hossein Jorjani First publication: 2026 – 07 – 19 The history of science has been marked by a long-term movement toward increasing quantification. Astronomy, physics, chemistry, genetics, epidemiology, and many other disciplines have progressively incorporated measurement, statistics, mathematical modelling, and computation into their methods. This historical development is sometimes interpreted as evidence that science isContinue reading “Excursus 079 – On Quantification in Science”
Excursus 048 – On Insiders and Outsiders in Scientific Innovation
Hossein Jorjani First publication: 2026 – 07 – 18 Scientific knowledge depends upon institutions. Universities, academies, journals, and professional societies preserve standards of evidence, refine methods, and transmit accumulated understanding from one generation to the next. Without such institutions, science could neither maintain continuity nor achieve collective progress. Yet the same institutions that preserve knowledgeContinue reading “Excursus 048 – On Insiders and Outsiders in Scientific Innovation”
Excursus 037 – On Hope and Despair in Scientific Inquiry
Hossein Jorjani First publication: 2026 – 06 – 30 Bacon’s warning against the “supposition of impossibility” speaks directly to a recurring problem in scientific inquiry: the tendency to dismiss certain questions or lines of investigation as inherently unanswerable before they have been adequately explored. His remedy was not unqualified optimism but what he called “trueContinue reading “Excursus 037 – On Hope and Despair in Scientific Inquiry”
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”
Excursus 016 – On the Progression of Science
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”
Hossein Jorjani 