Full Idea
Forming general conceptions is a necessary preliminary to Induction.
Gist of Idea
General conceptions are a necessary preliminary to Induction
Source
John Stuart Mill (System of Logic [1843], 4.2.1)
Book Reference
Mill,John Stuart: 'System of Logic (9th ed, 2 vols)' [Longmans, Green etc 1875], p.196
A Reaction
A key link in the framework of empirical philosophies, which gets us from experience to science. Induction is the very process of generalisation. We can't bring a concept like 'evolution' to preliminary observations, so it must be formulated inductively.