first principles
Basic underlying truths
First principles are the most basic, foundational assumptions from which reasoning proceeds—truths that cannot be derived from anything more fundamental.
In philosophy and science, first principles are starting points accepted without proof: Euclid built geometry from first principles.
To reason from first principles is to strip away assumptions and conventions, rebuilding understanding from the ground up rather than reasoning by analogy: Instead of copying competitors, she designed the product from first principles.
Foundational knowledge of something
- essentialsIndispensable items or elements
- foundationsStructural bases below ground
- bedrockSolid stone underground
- cornerstoneFoundational building block
core · rudiments · building blocks · underpinnings · groundwork · ABCs · elements · roots
Accepted starting principles
- postulatesAssumed starting principles
- premisesProperty with buildings
- assumptionsUnproven things taken as true
- deductionConclusion from premises
induction · logic · theorems · proofs · derivation · syllogism · rationale · argumentation
basics
Foundational knowledge of something
- essentialsIndispensable items or elements
- foundationsStructural bases below ground
- bedrockSolid stone underground
cornerstone · core · rudiments · building blocks · underpinnings · groundwork · ABCs · elements · roots · starting points
axioms
Accepted starting principles
- postulatesAssumed starting principles
- premisesProperty with buildings
- assumptionsUnproven things taken as true
deduction · induction · logic · theorems · proofs · derivation · syllogism · rationale · argumentation · Socratic
- elementary schoolclassroom, student, reading skills, teacher, pupil
- fundamentalsbasics, fundamentals, essentials, foundation, ABCs
- reasoningreasoning, reason, logic, inference, deductive
- Greek philosophyAristotle, Socrates, Plato, Pythagoras, Academy
- metaphysicsessence, being, reality, existence, substance theory
- logic termsif, then, valid, premises, and
first principlescorollaries
Propositions following from others
inferences · deductions · theorems · implications · conclusions
first principlesheuristics
Practical problem-solving shortcuts
rules of thumb · best practices · pattern matching · imitation · analogy
first principlesreceived wisdom
Unquestioned popular belief
conventional wisdom · dogma · tradition · authority · orthodoxy
first, prime, principal, principle, principles, primitive, primarily, firstly, primacy