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|Historical Context=Mill was an active participant in the debates surrounding epistemology of science in the mid-19th century. In order to properly contextualize Mill’s contributions, it is important to understand some of the major ideas that preceded him, and the most topical issues of his day.
One of the most prominent ideas that many philosophers prior to and during Mill’s time believed in was the ‘uniformity of nature.’ This concept was usually the uncritical starting assumption of many philosophers, including Mill himself. The principle of the ‘uniformity of nature’ states that the natural phenomenon behaves in a uniform, law-like fashion. The universe was thought to be governed by general laws that were considered immutable. This idea is also sometimes characterized as the ‘law of causation’--- “it is a law that there is a law for everything” .[[CiteRef::Buchdahl (Buchdahl, 1971, )|p.348).]]
Most influential philosophers of the past few centuries strongly adhered to this concept. Rationalist philosophers such as Leibniz and Descartes, and their followers maintained this principle. Kant himself ardently believed in the principle of the ‘uniformity of nature.’ Though Mill, and some British empiricists generally, tried to disassociate themselves from rationalist and Kantian doctrines, they nonetheless believed in this principle. Given this widespread acceptance, Mill too implicitly agreed to it, and used it to justify his claims in support inductive inferences (Buchdahl, 1971).
