The Logic of the Moral Sciences

by John Stuart Mill

Overview

John Stuart Mill (1806–73) was the most influential English philosopher of the nineteenth century. His vast intellectual output covered a range of subjects — traditional philosophy and logic, economics, political science — and included this work, a founding document in the area now known as social science.
In The Logic of the Moral Sciences, Mill applied his considerable talents to examining how the study of human behavior, society, and history could be established on a rational, philosophical basis. The philosopher maintains that casual empiricism and direct experiment are not applicable to the study of complex social phenomena. Instead, "empirical laws," drawn from historical generalizations, must be derivable from a deductive science of human nature. Mills' insights and approaches have remained relevant in the century and a half since this treatise's publication. This volume will prove of vital interest to historians of philosophy and the social sciences as well as to undergraduate social science majors.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780486847030
Publisher:	Dover Publications
Publication date:	05/21/2020
Series:	Dover Thrift Editions: Philosophy
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	128
Sales rank:	306,126
File size:	851 KB

About the Author

John Stuart Mill (1806–73) was the most influential English philosopher of the 19th century. His vast intellectual output covered a range of subjects, including traditional philosophy and logic, economics, and political science. Dover also publishes his classics On Liberty, Utilitarianism, and The Subjection of Women.

Table of Contents

I Introductory Remarks 1

II Of Liberty and Necessity 4

III That there is, or may be, a Science of Human Nature 12

IV Of the Laws of Mind 17

V Of Ethology, or the Science of the Formation of Character 27

VI General Considerations on the Social Science 40

VII Of the Chemical, or Experimental Method in the Social Science 44

VIII Of the Geometrical, or Abstract Method 53

IX Of the Physical, or Concrete Deductive Method 61

X Of the Inverse Deductive, or Historical Method 78

XI Additional Elucidations of the Science of History 97

XII Of the Logic of Practice, or Art; including Morality and Policy 110