First of all, we possess analytical judgments, which contain truths directly evident to the intellect through a comparison or analysis of the ideas of the judgment, without the aid of any immediate sense-perception or logical reasoning. For instance: 'The whole is greater than any of its parts'; 'a plane square encloses four right angles'; 'something cannot be true and false at the same time'; 'it is impossible that a thing exist and not exist at the same time'; 'everything must have a sufficient reason.' Such judgments, called 'first principles,' are immediately evident to the intellect by merely analyzing the ideas contained in them, provided the intellect knows what these ideas mean. They need to demonstration and no direct sense-perception to verify them.
If I know what a 'plane square' is and what a 'right angle' is, a mere comparison of these two ideas will make it clear to the intellect that 'A plane square encloses four right angles,' one in each corner of the figure. Again, if I know what 'whole' and 'part' mean, it is evident with similar axioms. Such principles are at the bottom of all knowledge, and they are, as all admit, indubitably present in our spontaneous convictions.
Axioms, like the Principle of Identity, the Principle of Contradiction, and the Principle of Sufficient Reason, are used, consciously or unconsciously, in every act of reasoning and are considered to be universally, necessarily and absolutely true.
Coming up next on Epistemology Today blog:
Classes of Truth: The Immediate Judgments to Attain Truth
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