第23章
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  91。Somewriters,especiallyG。H。Lewes,havetriedtomaintainthatthestatementoftheuniformityofNatureisan’identicalproposition。’Theattemptisunsatisfactory,andcertainlydoesnotseemtohavefoundfavourwithlaterwriters;but,thoughI

  amunabletodiscussthequestion,Iwillsuggestthatitseemstoindicatetheidealresultofreasoning。Weassumethat,ifourknowledgewerecomplete,wecouldstateallthelawsofactionandreactionofanyelementasnecessaryconsequencesofitsprimitiveconstitution,aswecandeduceallthepropertiesofnumberandspacefromprimaryprinciples。Thoughwecanneverattainsuchaconsummation,wecanrejectanytheorywhichcontradictsit,and,therefore,suchdoctrinesasthe’pluralityofcauses,’whichcometosupposingthatanidenticalprocessmaybeanalysedintwoinconsistentways。

  92。E。g。,byMrF。H。BradleyinhisPrinciplesofLogic1883,pp。329-42。DrVenn,whoismuchmorefavourabletoMill,discussestheminhisEmpiricalorInductiveLogic1889,pp。

  400-31,showsveryclearlyhowtheyassumewhathecallsthe’popular’,asdistinguishedfromthe’rigidlyscientific’,viewofcausation。Elsewherep。58heremarksthatthepopularmightbecalledthe’Brown-Herschel-Millview,’asthosewriterspopularisedthedoctrinefirstclearlysetforthbyHume。SeealsoSigwart’sLogik1889,ii。469-500。

  93。Logic,p。284bk。iii。ch。ix。section6。

  94。Sigwart’sLogik1889ii。461。

  95。Herschel’sDiscoursefirstappearedin1830asthefirstvolumeofLardner’sCabinetCyclopaedia。The’fourmethods’arenoticed,asMillstates,thoughwithcomparativevagueness,inchap。vioftheDiscourse。JevonsprefersthestatementtoMill’s。WhewellmakestheobviousremarkPhilosophyofDiscovery,p。284thatthefourmethodsresemblesomeofBacon’sPraerogativeInstantiarum。

  96。ForWhewell,seetheWritingsodescribedastoformabiographybyI。Todhunter2vols。1876。TheLifeandCorrespondence,byMrsStairDouglas,appearedin1888。Whewell’schiefphilosophicalworksare:HistoryoftheInductiveSciences3vols。8vo,1837;sectionedition,1840;thirdedition,1857;

  PhilosophyoftheInductiveSciences2vols。1840:secondedition,1857。Thisbookwasafterwardsdividedintothree:——

  HistoryofScientificIdeas,2vols。1858;NovumOrganumRenovatum,1vol。1858;andPhilosophyofDiscovery,1vol。1860。

  WhewellalsowroteapamphletOfInductionwithspecialreferencetoMrJ。StuartMill’s’SystemofLogic’。Thisisrepublishedaschap。xxiiofhisPhilosophyofDiscovery。

  97。RepublishedinHerschel’sEssays1857,pp。142-256。

  98。ScientificIdeas,i。88noteaddedtothisedition。

  99。PhilosophyoftheInductiveSciences1847,ii。311。

  100。PhilosophyoftheInductiveSciences,i。80。

  101。Whewell’sPhilosophyofInductiveSciences,i。216-21;

  Mill’sLogic,pp。160,265bk。ii。ch。v。section6,andbk。

  iii。ch。viii。section7。

  102。Whewell,indeed,saysthatthe’necessarylaw’isthatachangeofvelocitymusthaveacause;the’empiricallaw’tellsusthatthetimeduringwhichithasbeenmovingisnotacause——

  PhilosophyoftheInductiveSciences,ii。591。Ineednotgointothis。

  103。Logic,p。151bk。ii。ch。v。section3。

  104。Logic,p。190,etc。bk。iii。ch。ii。section3,4;Ibid。

  p。423bk。iv。ch。i。section4。

  105。Logic,p。207bk。iii。ch。iv。section1。

  106。Autobiography,pp。168,173。

  107。Logic,p。548bk。vi。ch。ii。section2。

  108。Autobiography,p。108。

  109。Logic,p。557bk。vi。ch。iv。section3。

  110。Seehisviewthatthedifferenceofcharacterbetweenthesexesisduetoexternalcircumstances,andthereforeremovable——

  Logic,p。566bk。vi。ch。v。section3。

  111。Logic,pp。567,569bk。vi。ch。v。section4,5。Artismisprinted’act’inthelastedition。

  112。Ibid。p。185bk。iii。ch。i。section1。

  113。Logic。p。144bk。ii。ch。iv。section5。

  114。Ibid。pp。576,585bk。vi。ch。vii。section4;bk。iv。ch。

  ix。section2。

  115。Ibid,p。303bk。iii。ch。xi。section3。

  116。Autobiography,p。159。

  117。Autobiography,p。160。

  118。Logic,p。583bk。vi。ch。ix。section1。

  119。Ibid。p。590bk。vi。ch。i。section3。

  120。Ibid。p。584bk。vi。ch。ix。section1。

  121。Bk。vi。ch。x。

  122。SeeespeciallythereviewsofTocqueville,Michelet,andGuizotintheDissertations。

  123。Dissertations,ii。121。

  124。Lettresin閐itesdeMill?Comte1899,p。xxxv。Mill’sletterstoComteuponhisviewofethologyaresignificant。

  ChapterIII

  PoliticalEconomy1*

  I。Mill’sStarting-PointMill’sdecisiontoabandon’ethology’infavourofpoliticaleconomy,hadoneclearadvantage。Thefunctionofaphilosophicalpioneerinthevastandvagueregionindicatedbythenewsciencewasbesetwithdifficulty。Itwasdoubtfulwhethertheproposedsciencecouldbeconstructedatall;andanyconclusionsattainablewouldcertainlyhavebelongedtoaregionremotefromspecificapplicationtothequestionsoftheday。Politicaleconomyofferedafieldforinquirywithanarroweraimofeasierachievement。Thegreatestproblemsofthetimewereeithereconomicalorcloselyconnectedwitheconomicalprinciples。Millhadfollowedthepoliticalstruggleswiththekeenestinterest:

  hesawclearlytheirconnectionwithunderlyingsocialmovements;

  andhehadthoroughlystudiedthescienceorwhathetooktobethescience——whichmustaffordguidanceforasatisfactoryworkingoutofthegreatproblems。ThephilosophicalRadicalsweredesertingtheoldcauseandbecominginsignificantasaparty。ButMillhadnotlosthisfaithinthesubstantialsoundnessoftheireconomicdoctrines。Hethought,therefore,thataclearandfullexpositionoftheirviewsmightbeofthehighestuseinthecomingstruggles。Hencearisesonebroadcharacteristicofhisposition。MillwassteepedfromchildhoodintheprinciplesofMalthusandRicardo。InthatcapacityhehadbeenachampionoftheirviewsagainstthefollowersofOwen。Buthehadcometosympathisewiththeaims,thoughhecouldnotacceptthetheories,oftheOwenites。Hencehewasvirtuallyaskinghow,givenRicardo’spremises,arewetorealiseOwen’saspirations?Thegroundworkofargument,however,remainedthroughout。ThoughamorefavourableestimateofSocialismwasintroducedinonechapterofhisbook,asIhavealreadynoticed,nocorrespondingchangesweremadeintheremainder。

  ThePoliticalEconomyspeedilyacquiredanauthorityunapproachedbyanyworkpublishedsincetheWealthofNations。

  Inspiteofmanyattacks,itstillholdsapositionamongstandardtextbooks;andinthecaseoftextbooks,fiftyyearsmaybecountedasremarkablelongevity。Duringthefirsthalfofthatperiod,alargeschoollookeduptoMillasanalmostinfallibleoracle。Ifinthelaterhalfthatbeliefhasvanished,weoughttorecognisemerits,sometimesoverlookedbyhisassailants。Themostundeniableisthesingularskillofexposition。Millhadanadmirablesenseofproportion;eachtopicistakenupinintelligibleorderandtreatedwithsufficientfulness;generalprinciplesarebroadlylaiddownandclearlyillustrated;andapplicationstoactualcasesaresufficientlyindicated,withoutthosesuperfluousdigressionsintominuterdetailswhichoftenentangleorbreakthemainthreadofanargument。Thestyleisinvariablylucid,andMill,whilefreefromarroganceandsingularlycourteoustoopponents,wearshismagisterialrobeswiththedignityofacknowledgedauthority。Whateverfallaciesliebeneaththeequableflowofdidacticwisdom,wecanunderstandwhatwasthecharmwhichconcealedthemfromearlyreaders。Thebookseemedtobeauniquecombinationofscientificreasoningandpracticalknowledge,whilethelogicalapparatus,soharshlycreakinginthehandsofRicardo,notonlyworkedsmoothlybutwasinthehandsofonewhoseoppositionto’sentimentalism’wasplainlynocynicalmaskforcoldnessofheart。

  Millstateshisaiminthepreface。HewishedtoexpoundthedoctrineofAdamSmithwiththe’latestimprovements。’ButhewouldtakeSmithforhismodelincombiningeconomicswith’otherbranchesofsocialphilosophy。’Smith,hesays,byneverlosingsightofthisaim,succeededinattractingboththegeneralreaderandthestatesman。Millcertainlyachievedasimilarresult。IfhedidnotemulateSmith’swideresearchesintoeconomichistory,andhadnotSmith’scuriousfelicityofillustration,hetookacomprehensiveviewofthegreatissuesofthetime,andsparednopainsinfillinghismindwiththenecessarymaterials。Hissurprisingpowerofassimilatingknowledgehadbeenstrengthenedbyofficialexperience。Noonehadamorevigorousdigestionforblue-books,or——whatisperhapsrarer——lessdesiretomakeadisplaybypouringouttherawmaterial。

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