William Stanley Jevons 1835 – 1882
William Stanley Jevons was an English economist, logician, and philosopher of science and one of the chief figures of the marginal revolution in economics. Trained at University College London, he held chairs at Owens College, Manchester, and later at his old university. His Theory of Political Economy, published in 1871, advanced the marginal utility theory of value, while The Principles of Science set out a Boolean logic of propositions and a probabilistic account of inductive inference. He drowned at forty-six while bathing on the south coast of England.
Key facts
- Nationality
- English
- Era
- Modern
- Movements
- Utilitarianism, Analytic
Selected quotes
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Attributed to William Stanley Jevons:
“Value depends entirely upon utility.”
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Attributed to William Stanley Jevons:
“Logic is the science of inference.”
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Attributed to William Stanley Jevons:
“All inductive reasoning is at bottom hypothetical.”
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Attributed to William Stanley Jevons:
“Utility is the relation of a thing to a sentient being.”
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Attributed to William Stanley Jevons:
“The calculus of pleasure and pain is the moving force of every economy.”