J. S. Mill's Methodology of Political Economy

The article deals with Mill's views on methodology. The place taken by political economy in the general classification of knowledge is shown. This includes: natural distinction between physical and moral sciences (including non-reducibility of mental phenomena to physical phenomena) and definition of political economy as a separate science. Further, the concept of economic man as introduced by Mill is presented. Two methods, which Mill saw as appropriate for studying social phenomena - i. e. concrete deductive method and inverse deductive method - are examined. Finally, marginalist reinterpretation of Mill's methodology is suggested. This reinterpretation retains the major features of Mill's approach.