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Mill's canons meet social ranking: A characterization of plurality

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  • Takahiro Suzuki
  • Michele Aleandri
  • Stefano Moretti

Abstract

In his book entitled ''A System of Logic, Ratiocinative and Inductive'' (1843), John Stuart Mill proposed principles of inductive reasoning in the form of five canons. To date, these canons are classic methods for causal reasoning: they are intended to single out the circumstances that are connected to the phenomenon under focus. The present paper reinterprets Mill's canons in the modern theory of social ranking solutions, which aims to estimate the power of individuals based on teams' performances. We first apply Mill's canons to determine the key success factors in cooperative performances and then characterize plurality using a strong version of Mill's first canon. Plurality is also compatible with most other canons. Thus, our results demonstrated a hidden link between classical causal reasoning and the theory of social ranking solutions.

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  • Takahiro Suzuki & Michele Aleandri & Stefano Moretti, 2025. "Mill's canons meet social ranking: A characterization of plurality," Papers 2505.10187, arXiv.org.
    • Handle: RePEc:arx:papers:2505.10187
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Samuel Ferey & Pierre Dehez, 2016. "Multiple Causation, Apportionment, and the Shapley Value," The Journal of Legal Studies, University of Chicago Press, vol. 45(1), pages 143-171.
    2. Giulia Bernardi & Roberto Lucchetti & Stefano Moretti, 2019. "Ranking objects from a preference relation over their subsets," Social Choice and Welfare, Springer;The Society for Social Choice and Welfare, vol. 52(4), pages 589-606, April.
    3. Samuel FEREY & Pierre DEHEZ, 2016. "Overdetermined Causation Cases, Contribution and the Shapley Value," LIDAM Reprints CORE 2755, Université catholique de Louvain, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE).
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