Logical Principles and Methodology in Pareto

The methodological & logical bases of Vilfredo Pareto's sociology (Trattato di sociologia generale [Treatise on General Sociology], Milan: Edizioni di Communita, 1964) are reviewed. The influences of Rene Descartes & Francis Bacon are noted, as well as Pareto's preference for analytical over synthetic approaches. The importance of subjective-objective distinctions, their quantifiability, & the affirmation of knowledge as objective are stressed, & the stages in Pareto's experimental model detailed. Criticisms of the model include the influence of positivism, the heavy reliance on exemplifications, & a limited recourse to semiological & mathematical tools of logic. Modified HA.