Principle

The first principle is the Form of the Good, unhypothetical and self-grounding, from which all intelligibility flows.

Principles are the starting points of demonstration, known by induction and intellectual intuition, not by proof.

The first principle is the One, beyond being and thought, from which Intellect and Soul proceed by emanation.

First principles of reason are self-evident; first principles of morals are grasped by synderesis as naturally as axioms are grasped by intellect.

The first principle of knowledge is the Cogito: 'I think, therefore I am,' the one certainty that survives universal doubt.

There are no innate principles; all knowledge, including so-called self-evident truths, derives from experience.

The principle of cause and effect is grounded in habit, not reason; no necessary connection can be observed or demonstrated.

Synthetic a priori principles are not derived from experience but are the conditions that make experience possible.

All principles, including the axioms of mathematics, are empirical generalizations ultimately grounded in observation and induction.