first principles
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
It is rooted in the first principles thinking popular with Musk, McNeill told me for an episode of the “Bold Names” podcast.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 28, 2026
Rationalists—like lawyers relying on “common sense” reasoning—believe we can deduce truth from first principles.
From Slate • Sep. 26, 2025
But sometimes the most important work is simply clearing the debris, removing the judicial inventions that cloud the text, and returning to first principles.
From Slate • Jun. 5, 2025
She argued that the Conservatives needed to take the time to go back to first principles and work out what the government should and should not do.
From BBC • May 28, 2025
Aristotelian philosophy had been based on the idea that one ought to be able to deduce sciences from generally accepted first principles, so that all science would be comparable to geometry.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
