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London, England
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This is Mill's most comprehensive and systematic philosophical work where he lays out his inductive method. In this book, he provides a scientific methodology for reasoning and philosophy derived from science and math.
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Although Mill considered himself a utilitarian, many of his contemporaries thought him an empiricist. This is because he believed all knowledge comes to us through our senses. He argued that we only come to believe in general principles by experiencing many specific instances that convey those general principles. Up until this point in time, no one had attempted to create a system of rules for how we arrive at general principles by starting with particulars.
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His inductive method is based on the idea of causation, the goal being to determine what causes something. His essential method for establishing a cause is elimination. For example, if an event happens in one set of circumstances but does not happen in other circumstances that are the same except for one thing, that one thing must be the cause of the event.
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As previously mentioned, Mill sees experience as the exclusive and sole source of knowledge. He rejects the idea of what he calls intuitive knowledge. This could apply to any kind of knowledge that the mind grasps immediately and with certainty, rather than verifying it through observation over a period of time.
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https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-Stuart-Mill Anschutz, Richard Paul. "John Stuart Mill". Encyclopedia Britannica, 16 May. 2021, https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-Stuart-Mill. Accessed 27 February 2022.
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Avignon, France
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vOlnRzFxCM Fitzgerald, Michael. “Unit 5.2: Mills Methods.” YouTube, uploaded by Michael FitzGerald, 17 Oct. 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vOlnRzFxCM
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SparkNotes Editors. “John Stuart Mill (1806-1873).” SparkNotes.com, SparkNotes LLC, https://www.sparknotes.com/philosophy/mill/section1/