Principle

A principle is a law or rule that has to be, or usually is to be followed, or can be desirably followed, or is an inevitable consequence of something, such as the laws observed in nature or the way that a system is constructed. The principles of such a system are understood by its users as the essential characteristics of the system, or reflecting system's designed purpose, and the effective operation or use of which would be impossible if any one of the principles was to be ignored.

Examples of principles are descriptive comprehensive and fundamental law, doctrine, or assumption, the normative rule or code of conduct, and the law or fact of nature underlying the working of an artificial device.

As cause The principle of any effect is the cause that produces it.

Depending on the way the cause is understood, the basic law governing that cause may acquire some distinction in its expression.

Causality, as efficient cause

The efficient cause is the one that produces the necessary effect, as long as the necessary and sufficient conditions are provided.The scientific process generally consists of establishing a cause by analyzing its effect upon objects. In this way, a description can be established to explain what principle brought about the change-effect. For this reason the principle of cause is considered to be a determining factor in the production of facts.

Principle (disambiguation)

A principle is a law or rule.

Principle may also refer to:

Surname

See also

Principle (chemistry)

In modern chemistry, principles are the constituents of a substance, specifically those that produce a certain quality or effect in the substance, such as a bitter principle, which is any one of the numerous compounds having a bitter taste.

The idea of chemical principles developed out of the classical elements. Paracelsus identified the tria prima as principles in his approach to medicine.

Georg Ernst Stahl published Philosophical Principles of Universal Chemistry in 1730 as an early effort to distinguish between mixtures and compounds. He writes, "the simple are Principles, or the first material causes of Mixts;..." To define a Principle, he wrote

Stahl recounts theories of chemical principles according to Helmont and J. J. Becher. He says Helmont took Water to be the "first and only material Principle of all things." According to Becher, Water and Earth are principles, where Earth is distinguished into three kinds. Stahl also ascribes to Earth the "principle of rest and aggregation."