Principle

A principle may relate to a fundamental truth or proposition that serves as the foundation for a system of beliefs or behavior or a chain of reasoning.

[3] In law, higher order, overarching principles establish rules to be followed, modified by sentencing guidelines relating to context and proportionality.

[5] Examples of principles are, entropy in a number of fields, least action in physics, those in descriptive comprehensive and fundamental law: doctrines or assumptions forming normative rules of conduct, separation of church and state in statecraft, the central dogma of molecular biology, fairness in ethics, etc.

In common English, it is a substantive and collective term referring to rule governance, the absence of which, being "unprincipled", is considered a character defect.

It represents a set of values that inspire the written norms that organize the life of a society submitting to the powers of an authority, generally the State.

The law establishes a legal obligation, in a coercive way; it therefore acts as principle conditioning of the action that limits the liberty of the individuals.

Archimedes principle, relating buoyancy to the weight of displaced water, is an early example of a law in science.

The concept of blind justice is a moral principle. [ 1 ]
Socrates preferred to face execution rather than betray his moral principles. [ 6 ]
Portrait bust of Aristotle; an Imperial Roman copy of a lost bronze sculpture made by Lysippos