Some reactions to Jevons' mathematical program: the case of Cairnes and Mill.

The article demonstrates the resistance of economists John Stuart Mill and John Elliott Cairnes to a program devised by William Stanley Jevons to mathematically approach economic theory. One reason for sustained opposition to the marginalist approach was pointed by Mark Blaug and Henry Spiegel as the specific use of mathematics. Cairnes has made several criticisms to Jevon's book "Theory of Political Economy," including the need for the utility theory of value to be circular. Despite the criticism, Cairnes had expressed admiration for Jevon's work in logic and applied economics.