THE ELEMENTS OF INDUCTIVE LOGIC DESIGNED MAINLY FOR THE USE OF STUDENTS IN THE UNIVERSITIES BY THOMAS FOWLER, M.A. President of Corpus Christi College Wykeham Professor of Logic in the University of Oxford ASTOR BY THE SAME AUTHOR, THE ELEMENTS OF DEDUCTIVE LOGIC. Eighth Edition, with a Collection of Examples. Oxford: Clarendon Press. Ext. fcap. 8vo. cloth, 3s. 6d. LIZ 3751. MAR 14 BACON'S NOVUM ORGANUM. Edited with Introduction and Notes. 1905 Okford: Clarendon Press. 8vo. cloth, 14s. NEW FOR LOCKE'S CONDUCT OF THE UNDERSTANDING. Edited with Introduction and Notes. Second Edition. Oxford: Clarendon Press. Ext. fcap. 8vo. cloth, 2s. PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. THE object of the following work is to serve as an introduction to that branch of scientific method which is known as Induction. It is designed mainly for the use of those who have not time or opportunity to consult larger works, or who require some preliminary knowledge before they can profitably enter upon the study of them. To the works of Mr. Mill, Dr. Whewell, and Sir John Herschel, the Author must, once for all, express his obligations. He has, however,' if he may be allowed to repeat the language already employed in the Preface to his Manual of Deductive Logic, endeavoured, on all disputed points, to reason out his own conclusions, feeling assured that no manual, however elementary, can be of real service to the student, unless it express what may be called the "reasoned opinions" of its author.' The analysis of Induction presents far more difficulties than that of Deduction, and requires to be illustrated by far more numerous and intricate examples. But, on the other hand, it is more interesting both to the teacher and to the student; and, being a comparatively recent study, is less hampered by conventionalities of treatment. Since the time of Bacon, it has always, with more or less of success, claimed a place in liberal education, and many, to whom the technical terms and subtle distinctions of the older logic are justly repulsive, have experienced a peculiar delight in attempting to discover and test the grounds on which the results of modern science mainly rest. The study of Deductive Logic can be of little service unless it be supplemented by, at least, some knowledge of the principles of Induction, which supplies its premisses. Many of the objections directed against the study of Logic are due to the narrow conceptions which are entertained of its province, and might be easily met by showing that the study, when we include both its parts, has a much wider range than is popularly assigned to it. Though the present work is mainly intended for students in the Universities, it is hoped that it will be found to present some interest for the general reader, and that it may be useful to students of medicine and the physical sciences, as well as to some of the more advanced scholars in our Public Schools. The number of scientific examples adduced throughout the work renders it necessary, perhaps, that the Author should state emphatically that the work is intended as an |