A System of Logic, Ratiocinative and Inductive: Being a Connected View of the Principles of Evidence, and the Methods of Scientific Investigation

by John Stuart Mill

This two-volume work, first published in 1843, was John Stuart Mill's first major book. It reinvented the modern study of logic and laid the foundations for his later work in the areas of political economy, women's rights and representative government. In clear, systematic prose, Mill (1806-73) disentangles syllogistic logic from its origins in Aristotle and scholasticism and grounds it instead in processes of inductive reasoning. An important attempt at integrating empiricism within a more general theory of human knowledge, the work constitutes essential reading for anyone seeking a full understanding of Mill's thought. Continuing the discussion of induction, Volume 2 concludes with Book VI, 'On the Logic of the Moral Sciences', in which Mill applies empirical reasoning to human behaviour. A crucial early formulation of his thinking regarding free will and necessity, this book establishes the centrality of 'the social science' to Mill's philosophy.

642 pages, Paperback

First published March 24, 2011

About the author

John Stuart Mill, English philosopher, political economist, civil servant and Member of Parliament, was an influential liberal thinker of the 19th century. He was an exponent of utilitarianism, an ethical theory developed by Jeremy Bentham, although his conception of it was very different from Bentham's.

Reviews

[Alex Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not as good as the first volume, this reads almost like a collection of additional thoughts by the impressive J.S. Mill.

Mill reveals here how close he is to Karl Popper in terms of using probability to determine the applicability of causal connections, only Mill lacks some of the mathematical sophistication with which to decide the limits.

The biggest impressive thought here is how Mill zeros in on the role of language in determining cuts of agency. The construction of what is to be considered and how it is to be considered, validated or verified is a tricky subject matter as including too much or too little of the phenomenon that has a causal connection is difficult to decide, especially if one cannot preform experiments to verify the limits of applicability... although Mill seems to believe that this is possible to do, even something as complex and difficult to suss out like the human mind.

He does believe that there is a singular verifiable view from which to understand agential relations, although he is unable to explain what that view is, or how one should find it given the multitude of differing points of view which would give rise to very different sets of criteria from which to construct causal connections.