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Mill's Methods

This document outlines several of John Stuart Mill's methods of inductive logic for determining causal relationships: method of agreement, method of difference, joint method of agreement and difference, method of residues, and method of concomitant variation. Examples are provided to illustrate how each method can be used to logically identify causes.

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1K views3 pages

Mill's Methods

This document outlines several of John Stuart Mill's methods of inductive logic for determining causal relationships: method of agreement, method of difference, joint method of agreement and difference, method of residues, and method of concomitant variation. Examples are provided to illustrate how each method can be used to logically identify causes.

Uploaded by

Musharafmushammad
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Method of Agreement

If two or more instances of the phenomenon under investigation have only one
circumstance in common, the circumstance in which alone all the instances agree is the
cause (or effect) of the given phenomenon.
A B C D occur together with p q r s
A E G F occur together with p l m n
-------------------------------------------Therefore A is the cause (or the effect) of p

Method of Difference
If an instance in which phenomenon under investigation occurs, and an instance in
which phenomenon under investigation does not occur , have every circumstance in
common save one, that one occurring only in former; the circumstance in which alone the
two instances differ is the effect or the cause, or an indispensable part of the cause, of the
phenomenon.
A B C D together occur with p q r s
B C D together occur with q r s
-------------------------------------------Therefore A is the cause, or the effect, or an indispensable part of the cause of p.

Joint Method of Agreement and Difference


If two or more instances in which the phenomenon occurs have only one circumstance
in common, while two or more instances in which it does not occur have nothing in
common save the absence of that circumstance, the circumstance in which alone the two
sets of instances differ is the effect, or the cause, or an indispensable part of the cause, of
the phenomenon.
Schematically we can write it as;
A B C together occur with p q r.
A B C together occur with p q r
A D E together occur with p l m
B C together occur with q r
Therefore A is the cause, or the effect, or an indispensable part of the cause, of p.

Method of Residues
Subduct from any phenomenon such parts as is known by previous inductions to be the
effect of certain antecedent, and the residue of the phenomenon is the effect of the
remaining antecedents.
A B C ----------- x y z
B is known to be the cause of y
C is known to be the cause of z
_______________________
Therefore A is the cause of x

Method of Concomitant Variation


Whatever phenomenon varies in any manner whenever another phenomenon varies in
the some particular manner, is either a cause or an effect of that phenomenon, or is
connected with it through some fact of causation.
Method of Concomitant variation can be schematized in two different ways
A B C ------------- x y z.
A+/- B C -------------x+/- y z
OR
A-/+ B C -------------x+/- y z
_________________________
Therefore A and x are causally connected.

Identify which of Mill's methods is used to support the conclusion.


1. Part of the damage to the aircraft could be attributed to its impact with the ground.
Another part was definitely due to the wind shear that the plane experienced as it fell
from the sky. However, some of the damage cannot be accounted for by either of
these factors. Investigators are examining this evidence closely for evidence of
explosives. Residues
2. No college wrestler has died in fifteen years until now. Why did Rocky die? He was
using drugs. Difference
3. Charles worked for two years at a hospital. During this time, the number of deaths
increased dramatically. agreement
4. At first we could not determine the cause, but then we noticed that there were more
cases of the infection when more monkeys from Uganda were present. concomitant
5. A vaccine believed effective was tested in a community in which no one escape
hepatitis A. Nearly 70 percent of the people have been infected by the time they are
nineteen years old. A Doctor and his colleagues recruited 1037 children in that
community, age two to sixteen, who had not been exposed to the hepatitis A virus.
Half of them(519) received a single dose of the new vaccine, and among those
vaccinated children not a single case of hepatitis A has been reported of the 518
children who received dummy injections, 25 soon after became infected with
hepatitis A. the vaccine of hepatitis A had been found. Joint
6. The old prescription contained vitamins A, B-12, and C, and taking it regularly
improved night vision, reduced stress, and prevented colds. The new prescription
contains calcium along with vitamins A, B-12, and C, and taking it regularly
improves night vision, reduces stress, prevents colds, and increases bone density.
Therefore, taking calcium regularly increases bone density. Residues
7. It is no longer open to discussion that air has weight. It is common knowledge that a
balloon is heavier when inflated than when empty, which is a proof enough. For if the
air were light, the more the balloon was inflated, the lighter the whole would be,
since there would be more air in it. But since, on the contrary, when more air is put in,
the whole becomes heavier, it follows that each part has a weight of its own, and
consequently air has weight. Residues
8. Zubabid was contemplating the purchase of a new oven for her kitchen, but she could
not decide between an electric and a gas unit. Thus, she decided to conduct an
experiment using the ovens, one gas, and one electric, of two friends who live in
adjoining apartments. She mixed up two identical batches of brownies under identical
conditions of relative humidity and identical altitudes, put them into identical backing
dishes, and cooked them at the same temperature for exactly the same time. The
brownies cooked in the electric oven came out moist, while the brownies cooked in
the gas oven came out relatively dry. Zubabid concluded that backing in the electric
oven caused the brownies to be moist. Construct a table that supports this conclusion.
Which one of Mills methods did Nancy use? Agreement
9. Zubabida sometimes has trouble sleeping. In order to determine the cause, she
decided to take note for her pre- bedtime behavior over the course of a week. On
Monday she drank tea, had a late dinner, took a hot bath, read from a book, took a
walk, and she slept well. On Tuesday she had a late a dinner, read from a book and
slept poorly. On Wednesday she drank a glass of orange juice, got a massage, took a
walk, and slept poorly. On Thursday she had a late dinner, drank a glass of orange
juice, read from a book, took a hot bath, got a massage and slept well. On Friday she
read from a book, drank tea, got a massage, had a late dinner, took a walk, and slept
well. On Saturday she drank a glass of orange juice, got a massage, took a walk,
drank tea, took a hot bath, and slept well. On Sunday she read from a book, took a hot
bath, drank tea, and slept poorly. What can Zubaida conclude is the cause of sleeping
well? Construct a table that supports this conclusion. (Ambiguity)

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