self-evidence
Needing no proof
Self-evidence is the quality of being obvious without needing proof or explanation.
A self-evident truth requires no argument—it's apparent to anyone who considers it: The Declaration of Independence holds certain truths to be self-evident.
What counts as self-evident often proves contentious; one person's obvious fact is another's unexamined assumption.
Instinctive immediate understanding
- innateExisting since birth
- inherentExisting as essential part
- immediateHappening without delay
- instinctiveArising without conscious thought
a priori knowledge · common sense · natural light · Cartesian · introspection · self-luminous · noetic
Clearly seen or understood
- manifestClearly apparent or displayed
- patentObvious; inventor's monopoly
- transparentAllowing light through
- unmistakableImpossible to misidentify
plain · clear · obvious · undeniable · palpable · conspicuous · self-explanatory · prima facie
Self-evident starting principle
- postulateAssumed starting point
- theoremDemonstrated logical conclusion
- propositionStatement expressing a judgment
- corollaryLogical natural consequence
foundational · principle · Euclid · geometry · a priori · first principles · premise · Descartes
Knowledge rests on basics
- warrantFormal authorization document
- justificationReason proving rightness
- certaintyTotal absence of doubt
- incorrigibilityInability to be reformed
Incapable of being surrendered
- JeffersonThird American president
- Declaration of IndependenceAmerica's founding proclamation
- truthsAccurate statements about reality
- endowedGiven natural abilities
unalienable rights · natural rights · Locke · social contract · founding fathers · Enlightenment
intuition
Instinctive immediate understanding
instinctive · a priori knowledge · common sense · natural light · Cartesian · introspection · self-luminous · noetic
apparent
Clearly seen or understood
- manifestClearly apparent or displayed
- patentObvious; inventor's monopoly
- transparentAllowing light through
unmistakable · plain · clear · obvious · undeniable · palpable · conspicuous · self-explanatory · prima facie · on its face
axiom
Self-evident starting principle
- postulateAssumed starting point
- theoremDemonstrated logical conclusion
- propositionStatement expressing a judgment
corollary · foundational · principle · Euclid · geometry · a priori · first principles · premise · Descartes · cogito
foundationalism
Knowledge rests on basics
- warrantFormal authorization document
- justificationReason proving rightness
- certaintyTotal absence of doubt
incorrigibility · privileged access · Chisholm · self-justifying
inalienable
Incapable of being surrendered
- JeffersonThird American president
- Declaration of IndependenceAmerica's founding proclamation
- truthsAccurate statements about reality
endowed · unalienable rights · natural rights · Locke · social contract · founding fathers · Enlightenment
- phenomenologyphenomenology, intentionality, bracketing, lived experience, horizon
- IntuitionismHeyting algebra, constructivism, intuitive knowledge
- visibilityvisibility, visible, invisible, hidden, hide
- RationalismDescartes, cogito ergo sum, a priori, Spinoza, clear ideas
self-evidencederivativeness
Lack of original thought
empirical verification · contingency · inductive reasoning · demonstrability
self-evidenceobscurity
State of being unknown
dubiousness · opacity · non-obviousness · uncertainty · ambiguity
evidence, evident, evidences, evidencing, evidenced, evidence-based, evidential, self-evident, evidentiary