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<h2 id="as-law">As law</h2> <h3>As moral law</h3> <p class="note">Main article: <a href="/facts/Ethics/wNVNgL5q">Ethics</a></p> <p>A principle represents values that orient and rule the conduct of persons in a particular society. To "act on principle" is to act in accordance with one's moral ideals.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a> Principles are absorbed in childhood through a process of <a href="/facts/Socialization/0vv1uDNr">socialization</a>. There is a presumption of liberty of individuals that is restrained. Exemplary principles include <a href="/facts/First%2c_do_no_harm/XsQEGXF9">First, do no harm</a>, the <a href="/facts/Golden_Rule/uAu7lIyh">Golden Rule</a> and the <i><a href="/facts/Doctrine_of_the_Mean/J2nNAjqH">Doctrine of the Mean</a></i>. </p> <h3>As a juridic law</h3> <p class="note">Main article: <a href="/facts/Principle_of_legality_in_criminal_law/uUPwhxDd">Principle of legality in criminal law</a></p> <p>It represents a set of values that inspire the written norms that organize the life of a society submitting to the powers of an authority, generally the State. The law establishes a legal obligation, in a coercive way; it therefore acts as principle <a href="/facts/Classical_conditioning/ddtohoz3">conditioning</a> of the action that limits the liberty of the individuals. See, for examples, the <a href="/facts/Territorial_principle/boAQnRnz">territorial principle</a>, <a href="/facts/Homestead_principle/fNIvCmAT">homestead principle</a>, and <a href="/facts/Precautionary_principle/g2p0mez8">precautionary principle</a>. </p> <h3>As scientific law</h3> <p><a href="/facts/Archimedes%2527_principle/L4AsK5Jj">Archimedes' principle</a>, relating buoyancy to the weight of displaced water, is an early example of a <a href="/facts/Law_(principle)/pXwaIskW">law</a> in science. Another early one developed by <a href="/facts/Malthus/fNoDNncG">Malthus</a> is the <i>population principle</i>, now called the <a href="/facts/Malthusian_principle/fNoDNncG">Malthusian principle</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a> Freud also wrote on principles, especially the <a href="/facts/Reality_principle/bgqclelp">reality principle</a> necessary to keep the id and <a href="/facts/Pleasure_principle_(psychology)/3oSnpIq1">pleasure principle</a> in check. Biologists use the <a href="/facts/Principle_of_priority/bfHpKEDK">principle of priority</a> and <a href="/facts/Principle_of_Binominal_nomenclature/jgBqAhPv">principle of Binominal nomenclature</a> for precision in naming <a href="/facts/Species/oDg6b96r">species</a>. There are many principles observed in physics, notably in <a href="/facts/Cosmology/yM19zM7Y">cosmology</a> which observes the <a href="/facts/Mediocrity_principle/gAdb3u6H">mediocrity principle</a>, the <a href="/facts/Anthropic_principle/LrJDwfC9">anthropic principle</a>, the <a href="/facts/Principle_of_relativity/8I2xlmoP">principle of relativity</a> and the <a href="/facts/Cosmological_principle/snaj0VNu">cosmological principle</a>. Other well-known principles include the <a href="/facts/Uncertainty_principle/UUSoSp4T">uncertainty principle</a> in <a href="/facts/Quantum_mechanics/BRc3Mzgr">quantum mechanics</a> and the <a href="/facts/Pigeonhole_principle/hDks9p4n">pigeonhole principle</a> and <a href="/facts/Superposition_principle/GKGs9C92">superposition principle</a> in mathematics. </p> <h2 id="as-axiom-or-logical-fundament">As axiom or logical fundament</h2> <h3>Principle of sufficient reason</h3> <p class="note">Main article: <a href="/facts/Principle_of_sufficient_reason/LGSA6RUX">Principle of sufficient reason</a></p> <p>The principle states that every event has a rational explanation.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8"><sup>8</sup></a> The principle has a variety of expressions, all of which are perhaps best summarized by the following: </p> For every entity <i>x</i>, if <i>x</i> exists, then there is a sufficient explanation for why <i>x</i> exists. For every event <i>e</i>, if <i>e</i> occurs, then there is a sufficient explanation for why <i>e</i> occurs. For every proposition <i>p</i>, if <i>p</i> is true, then there is a sufficient explanation for why <i>p</i> is true. <p>However, one realizes that in every sentence there is a direct relation between the predicate and the subject. To say that "the Earth is round", corresponds to a direct relation between the subject and the predicate. </p> <h3>Principle of non-contradiction</h3> <p class="note">Main article: <a href="/facts/Law_of_noncontradiction/cFkRnVsu">Law of noncontradiction</a></p> <p>According to <a href="/facts/Aristotle/U2bDlBFW">Aristotle</a>, "It is impossible for the same thing to belong and not to belong at the same time to the same thing and in the same respect."<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9"><sup>9</sup></a> For example, it is not possible that in exactly the same moment and place, it rains and does not rain.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:10" href="#fn:10"><sup>10</sup></a> </p> <h3>Principle of excluded middle</h3> <p class="note">Main article: <a href="/facts/Law_of_excluded_middle/tDhbugCN">Law of excluded middle</a></p> <p>The principle of the excluding third or "principium tertium exclusum" is a principle of the traditional logic formulated canonically by <a href="/facts/Gottfried_Wilhelm_Leibniz/cTc2er83">Leibniz</a> as: either <i>A</i> is <i>B</i> or <i>A</i> isn't <i>B</i>. It is read the following way: either <i>P</i> is true, or its denial ¬<i>P</i> is.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:11" href="#fn:11"><sup>11</sup></a> It is also known as "<i>tertium non datur</i>" ('A third (thing) is not'). Classically it is considered to be one of the most important fundamental principles or laws of thought (along with the principles of identity, non-contradiction and sufficient reason). </p> <h2 id="see-also">See also</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Ahimsa/gV8J0KQI">Ahimsa</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Axiom/mLjP14Mc">Axiom</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Corollary/ntQ8zR9N">Corollary</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Deductive_reasoning/HadA1zWS">Deduction</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Logical_consequence/AyDXp4dn">Logical consequence</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Non-aggression_principle/TdpXIE44">Non-aggression principle</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Self-evidence/I9WhGuT5">Self-evidence</a></li></ul> <h2 id="external-links">External links</h2> <ul><li> The dictionary definition of principle at Wiktionary</li> <li><a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/0578522179?ref_=pe_3052080_397514860"><i>Actus Essendi</i> and the Habit of the First Principle in Thomas Aquinas (New York: Einsiedler Press, 2019)</a>.</li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>Stevenson, Angus; Lindberg, Christine A., eds. (2010-01-01). "New Oxford American Dictionary". doi:10.1093/acref/9780195392883.001.0001. ISBN 978-0-19-539288-3. <a href="978-0-19-539288-3" target="_blank">978-0-19-539288-3</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>Stevenson, Angus; Lindberg, Christine A., eds. (2010-01-01). "New Oxford American Dictionary". doi:10.1093/acref/9780195392883.001.0001. ISBN 978-0-19-539288-3. <a href="978-0-19-539288-3" target="_blank">978-0-19-539288-3</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>UNESCO (2021). "Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence". <a href="https://www.unesco.org/en/legal-affairs/recommendation-ethics-artificial-intelligence" target="_blank">https://www.unesco.org/en/legal-affairs/recommendation-ethics-artificial-intelligence</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>Alpa, Guido (1994) General Principles of Law, Annual Survey of International & Comparative Law, Vol. 1: Is. 1, Article 2. from Golden Gate University School of Law <a href="http://digitalcommons.law.ggu.edu/annlsurvey/vol1/iss1/2/" target="_blank">http://digitalcommons.law.ggu.edu/annlsurvey/vol1/iss1/2/</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>Sharpley, D. (2024). "Leadership Principles and Purpose". <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Leadership-Principles-and-Purpose-Developing-Leadership-Effectiveness-and-Future-Focused-Capability/Sharpley/p/book/9781032575063" target="_blank">https://www.routledge.com/Leadership-Principles-and-Purpose-Developing-Leadership-Effectiveness-and-Future-Focused-Capability/Sharpley/p/book/9781032575063</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:6"><p>"Full Transcript: Jeff Flake’s Speech on the Senate Floor." New York Times. 24 October 2017. 25 October 2017. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/24/us/politics/jeff-flake-transcript-senate-speech.html" target="_blank">https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/24/us/politics/jeff-flake-transcript-senate-speech.html</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:7"><p>Elwell, Frank W. "T. Robert Mathus's Principle ...." Rogers State University. 2013. 25 October 2017. <a href="http://www.faculty.rsu.edu/users/f/felwell/www/Theorists/Essays/Malthus1.htm" target="_blank">http://www.faculty.rsu.edu/users/f/felwell/www/Theorists/Essays/Malthus1.htm</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:8"><p>"Principle of Sufficient Reason." Archived 2018-06-11 at the Wayback Machine Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 7 September 2016. 25 October 2017. <a href="https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/sufficient-reason/" target="_blank">https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/sufficient-reason/</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:9"><p>"Aristotle on Non-contradiction." Archived 2018-06-11 at the Wayback Machine Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 12 June 2015. 25 October 2017. <a href="https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-noncontradiction/" target="_blank">https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-noncontradiction/</a> <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:10"><p>"Great Philosophers." Oregon State University. 2002. 25 October 2017. <a href="https://oregonstate.edu/instruct/phl201/modules/Philosophers/Aristotle/aristotle_laws_of_thought.html" target="_blank">https://oregonstate.edu/instruct/phl201/modules/Philosophers/Aristotle/aristotle_laws_of_thought.html</a> <a href="#fnref:10" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:11"><p>Whitehead, Alfred North (2005). Principia mathematica, by Alfred North Whitehead ... and Bertrand Russell. <a href="http://name.umdl.umich.edu/AAT3201.0001.001" target="_blank">http://name.umdl.umich.edu/AAT3201.0001.001</a> <a href="#fnref:11" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>