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Work #260 · Early (Mill's first major book, the foundation of his philosophical reputation)

A System of Logic

John Stuart Mill
1843 (Mill's first major book); revised through 1872 (8th edition) · English
Systematic treatise on logic in six books · British empiricism / philosophy of science

The major nineteenth-century English logic — Mill's 1843 systematic treatise including the famous Methods of experimental inquiry

Attribute Fingerprint

Rows where works disagree are highlighted in gold. The full ontology grid is shown.

Attribute A System of Logic (Early (Mill's first major book, the foundation of his philosophical reputation))
Time · Extent Infinite
Time · Ontological Status Substantival
Time · Grain Continuous
Time · Freedom Deterministic
Time · Traversability Linear
Time · Dimensionality One
Time · Direction Uni-directional
Space · Extent Infinite
Space · Ontological Status Substantival
Space · Curvature Flat
Space · Dimensionality Three
Space · Locality Local
Matter · Extent Infinite
Matter · Ontological Status Substantival
Matter · Conservation Conserved
Matter · Dimensionality Three
Matter · Locality Local
Observer · Time Instance Single
Observer · Space Instance Single
Observer · Knowledge Extent Partial
Observer · Knowledge Retainment Total
Observer · Physicality Embodied
Observer · Agency Active
Observer · Number Plural
Observer · Metaphysical Agency None
Observer · Moral Authority Reason
Observer · Theological Method
Energy · Extent Infinite
Energy · Ontological Status Substantival
Energy · Conservation Conserved
Energy · Dispersibility Irreversible
Information · Ontological Status Substantival
Information · Cosmic Conservation Conserved
Information · Personal Conservation Non-conserved
Information · Granularity Continuous

Dimension-by-Dimension Evidence

What each work's passages reveal about its stance on each of the six dimensions.

Time

A System of Logic

The temporal structure of inductive inquiry — observations accumulate, hypotheses are tested, methods refined.

Space

A System of Logic

The experimental space of scientific inquiry; the social-political space of the moral sciences.

Matter

A System of Logic

The material substrate of scientific phenomena; embodied scientific observers.

Observer

A System of Logic

The empirical scientist as the central observer — plural, embodied, methodologically disciplined. No metaphysical framework imposed.

Energy

A System of Logic

The methodological-scientific energies of inquiry, testing, revision.

Information

A System of Logic

The accumulating scientific knowledge preserved through methodologically rigorous induction.

Internal Tensions

Where each work's argument pulls against itself.

A System of Logic

Mill's analysis of the syllogism (it begs the question — the major premise already contains the conclusion) was sharply controversial in its time and remains a continuing question in philosophy of logic. The Mill-Whewell exchange on scientific method shaped subsequent philosophy of science. Mill's Methods remain a standard reference in introductory texts on scientific method, though twentieth-century philosophy of science has substantially modified the framework (Popper, Kuhn, Bayesian approaches).