Undergraduate thesis explicates a theory of induction introduced by a French philosopher Maurice Merleau-Ponty in the light of his critique of John Stuart Mill’s theory of eliminative induction. It starts with an observation that Merleau-Ponty’s understanding of induction can be summarized by the statement that “the genuine inductive method is not a ‘method of differences,’ [but] it consists in correctly reading phenomena, in grasping their sense, that is in treating them as modalities and variations of the subject’s total being.” In chapter 2, the first, negative, part of the claim is analyzed in detail, first by presenting Mill’s theory and then by presenting Merleau-Ponty’s critique of it. In chapter 3, the second, positive, part of the claim is interpreted: after outlining Merleau-Ponty’s understanding of science, it is shown how he conceptualizes induction with the help of Edmund Husserl’s concept of intuition of essences. In chapter 4, Merleau-Ponty’s theory is critically evaluated. The thesis concludes that Merleau-Ponty’s conception can be understood as an existentialist alternative to empiricist and transcendentalist conceptions of induction.
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