A rigorous examination of the assumptions underlying scientific inquiry, with special attention being paid to: *Causation*The relationship between the causal order and the spatiotemporal order*Probability (specifically, the distinction between statistical probability and explanatory probability)*Causation in relation to determinism*Different kinds of determinism*Causation in relation to prediction*Factors limiting the scope and accuracy of prediction*Data-modeling vs. truth-identification (the convergence of the two in psychology, the divergence of the two in the physical sciences)*Interdisciplinary reduction *The distinctive nature of psychology*Substantive but under-examined empirical questions within the discipline of psychology relating to the different kinds of psychopathy and to the distinction between psychopathy and non-psychopathic (in some cases counter-psychopathic) criminality *The concept of a datum*The distinction between data and truths and, more generally, between non-propositional and propositional content*The linguistic basis of discursive thought and scientific procedureThe last chapter of the present work contains definitions of every philosophy-specific term occurring in the book, along with an analysis of the corresponding concept.