Philosophy of Scientific Method

The dominant figure of mid-nineteenth-century British political economics, John Stuart Mill exercised a lasting influence on philosophical thought. This compact statement of Mill's doctrines offers the essentials for understanding his scientific methods of reasoning. Starting with an informative Introduction by editor Ernest Nagel, the text proceeds with extracts from A System of Logic that clarify Mill's processes of reasoning. The following five-part treatment draws upon the philosopher's major works to consider names and propositions; reasoning; induction; operations subsidiary to induction; and the logic of the moral sciences. Selections from An Examination of Sir William Hamilton's Philosophy conclude the text, along with an essay on the definition of political economy and its methods of investigation.