Reasoning from First Principles
A reasoning method that breaks down complex problems to their most basic, self-evident assumptions, then builds understanding back up step by step.
Published July 10, 2018
Origin
Aristotle articulated the idea of archai ("first principles") in his Metaphysics and Physics (4th century BCE), arguing that genuine knowledge requires tracing claims back to self-evident truths that cannot be further reduced. The concept resurfaced through Kantian postulates and mathematical axioms. Terence Irwin's 1988 study Aristotle's First Principles renewed scholarly interest in the framework.
Everyday Use
So often we do things simply because that's the way that they've been done, but we don't allow ourselves the time or opportunity to take a step back and evaluate if they're actually working, or how we can think about them differently. Reasoning from First Principles helps us to see the system from its component parts, and thus to gain new insights and a firmer understanding of the systems in our lives.