Science of Ethology

J. S. Mill’s Proposed Science of Ethology. Mill argued for the development of a “science of the formation of character,” and he called this science ethology. It should be noted that Mill’s proposed science of ethology bore little resemblance to mod- ern ethology, which studies animal behavior in the animal’s natural habitat and then attempts to explain that behavior in evolutionary terms. As Mill saw it, ethology would be derived from a more basic science of human nature. That is, first the science of human nature (psychol- ogy) would discover the universal laws according to which all human minds operate, and then ethol- ogy would explain how individual minds or char- acters form under specific circumstances. Putting the matter another way, we can say that the science of human nature provides information concerning what all humans have in common (human nature), and ethology explains individual personalities (indi- vidual differences).

What Mill was seeking, then, was the infor- mation necessary to convert psychology from an inexact science, like tidology, into an exact science. In other words, he wanted to explain more improvement; and that it ought to be replaced by a principle of perfect equality, admitting no power or privilege on the one side, nor disability on the other.