The Philosophical Method. The methods of investigation so far con- sidered are inductive methods. These methods start with certain facts which are either historical in their character or are the result of experiment, comparison or observation and, then, certain conclusions regarding the political phenomena are arrived at. The philosophical method, on the other hand. is deductive or a priori and its prominent exponents are Plato, Rousseau, Hegel, Bradley, Kant, Bosanquet, and Sidgwick. The deductive method implies reasoning from or developing particular conclusions from a number of general principles or propositions which are admitted or assumed to be true. The philosophical or a priori method is, thus, reasoning from cause to effect, from a general principle to its consequences. In Political Science this method of investigation starts from some abstract original idea about human and draws deduction from that idea as to the nature of the State, its aims, its fractions and its future. It then attempts to harmonise its theories with the actual facts of history