Seyedali Taheri

The problem of understanding how statistical inference is, and can be, applied in empirical sciences is important for the methodology of science. It is the objective of this paper to gain a better understanding of the role of statistical methods in scientific modeling. The important question of whether the applicability reduces to the representational properties of statistical models is discussed. It will be shown that while the answer to this question is positive, representation in statistical models is not purely structural. In spite of the fact that representation in statistical models is based on the structural similarities between the statistical model and the empirical systems under study, these relationships are shown to be appropriate for representing relations in the target system by agent function, too. A second aspect of the paper involves the claim that agent-based components of statistical modeling are: a) interpretation of random variables, b) selection of the goal of statistical research, and c) selection of estimator properties. To justify these claims, a preliminary discussion will be presented on the role of statistics in modeling, as in regression and other structural models. This role will be explored and realized using a structural viewpoint. Also the role of statistical estimation in statistical modeling is discussed to explain the representational role of models and the inferential role of the agent in modeling.

Among the general issues of Islamic philosophy, one which is extensively dealt with and discussed is the issue of mental existence. The origin of this issue is a theological theory which Asharite theologians, such as Fakhr al-Din Razi, have proposed concerning God's knowledge. This theory was later extended to the domain of man's knowledge and propounded in a general form, without any theological color and flavor. It developed its philosophical form in Khwajah Nasir al-Din Tusi's words.The philosophical version of the issue of mental existence has an anti-sophism orientation and concerns the validity of man's knowledge of conceptual and judgmental particulars and the universal issues derived from them. After a critical study of this theory, theoretical philosophers tried to provide a number of new ideas in order to defend or modify it. Surprisingly enough, Fakhr Razi's idea, which had been put forward prior to the philosophical presentation of this issue, is referred to as a solution, though an invalid one, to this problem. After a critical analysis of his predecessors' views concerning the problem of mental existence, Sadr al-Mutaallihin provided a new solution in this regard. His solution has been considered a valid and acceptable one by his succeeding philosophers, whether at his own time or at present.