A '''principle''' is a comprehensive and fundamental [[law]], doctrine, or assumption.
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A '''principle''' is a comprehensive and fundamental [[law]], doctrine, or assumption, and whose idea is a central one in Western thought. For example the action of "[[change]]" is said to be based on five principles.
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Commonly used synonyms (originative) "source" or "beginning".
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For example, in some senses a "[[nature]]" is the ''source'' of a thing's action, and an "[[essence]]" is the ''source'' of a thing's being.
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A "[[cause]]" is a kind of principle, but the meaning of ''principle'' can be broader than "cause" in at least two ways. First, a principle can be a "deprivation" in the sense of the absence of a thing understood to be present by nature. For example the absence of a woman's eye, of which could be spoken as a principle of certain actions.
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Secondly, in Christian theology, the [[Son of God]] and [[Holy Spirit]] were not created, but are said to have God the Father as their "source" or principle.
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Principles can be divided along three primary dimensions: principles of reality, moral principles, and logical principles.