Originally Posted by
Chris
One, no, I do not do that.
Two, you do and it shows you still do not understand what first principles are.
From observation and experience you derive/deduce laws/rules/etc. First principles are not derived/deduced.
Again, as an example of a first principle, empiricism, which means that all knowledge is derived from observation and experience, is a first principle of science. It is not observed, it is not experienced, it is not derived, it is not deduced. It cannot be proved. It cannot be disproven. It is assumed to be true. It is thus a first principle.
As another example of a first principle, that of religion, God exists--or, more generally, revelation. It is not observed, it is not experienced, it is not derived, it is not deduced. It cannot be proved. It cannot be disproven. It is assumed to be true. It is thus a first principle.
And yet another, the axiom of Euclidean Geometry, a straight line is the shortest distance between two points. It is not observed, it is not experienced, it is not derived, it is not deduced. It cannot be proved. It cannot be disproven. It is assumed to be true. It is thus a first principle.
I can and have done the same with first principles in law, politics, economics, and so on.
Statements about observations, experiences, derivations, deductions, inductions, proofs, disproofs are secondary propositions, they are not first principles.
I am clearly distinguishing first principles from observation and experience. If there is conflation, it is yours.