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Inepistemology (theory of knowledge), aself-evident proposition is a proposition that is known to be true by understanding its meaning withoutproof,[citation needed] and/or by ordinaryhuman reason.
Some epistemologists deny that any proposition can be self-evident. For most others, one's belief that oneself isconscious and possessesfree will are offered as examples of self-evidence. However, one's belief that someone else is conscious or has free will are not epistemically self-evident.
The following proposition is often said to be self-evident: "A finite whole is greater than, or equal to, any of its parts".
Alogical argument for a self-evident conclusion would demonstrate only an ignorance of the purpose of persuasively arguing for the conclusion based on one or more premises that differ from it (seeignoratio elenchi andbegging the question).
It is sometimes said that a self-evident proposition is one whose denial is self-contradictory. It is also sometimes said that ananalytic proposition is one whose denial is self-contradictory. But the concepts mean different things, i.e., an analytic proposition is not always a self-evident proposition.[further explanation needed]
Provided that one understands and believes a self-evident proposition, self-evident propositions are not in need of proof. Likewise, that their denial is self-contradictory does not need to be proven. It is in this sense that the self-contradictions at work in self-evident and analytic propositions are different.
Not all analytic propositions are self-evident, and it is sometimes claimed that not all self-evident propositions are analytic: e.g. my knowledge that I am conscious.
In informal speech,self-evident often merely meansobvious, but the epistemological definition is stricter.
Moral propositions may also be regarded as self-evident, although theis–ought problem described byDavid Hume considers that there is no coherent way to transition from a positive statement to a normative one.
For example,Alexander Hamilton cited the following moral propositions as self-evident in theFederalist No. 23:
A famous claim of the self-evidence of a moral truth is in theUnited States Declaration of Independence, which states, "We hold these Truths to beself-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by theirCreator with certainunalienable Rights, that among these areLife, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."; philosophically, these propositions' self-evidence is debatable.
Inmathematics,self-evident refers to statements that need no proof. Sometimesaxioms are described as self-evident.[1] Other statements are self-evident because the statement is a proof for itself.[citation needed].
