Editing Self-evidence (section)

==Other uses==
===Informal speech===
In informal speech, ''self-evident'' often merely means ''obvious'', but the epistemological definition is stricter.

===Moral propositions===
Moral propositions may also be regarded as self-evident, although the [[is–ought problem]] described by [[David 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 the [[Federalist No. 23]]:
* ''The means ought to be proportioned to the end.''
* ''Every power ought to be commensurate with its object.''
* ''There ought to be no limitation of a power destined to effect a purpose which is itself incapable of limitation.''

A famous claim of the self-evidence of a moral truth is in the [[United States Declaration of Independence]], which states, "We hold these Truths to be ''self-evident'', that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their [[Creator deity|Creator]] with certain [[Inalienable rights|unalienable Rights]], that among these are [[Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness|Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness]]."; philosophically, these propositions' self-evidence is debatable.

=== Mathematics ===
In [[mathematics]], ''self-evident'' refers to statements that need no proof. Sometimes [[axiom]]s are described as self-evident.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Maddy |first=Penelope |date=1988 |title=Believing the Axioms |url=https://math.berkeley.edu/~kpmann/Axioms.pdf |website=Journal of Symbolic Logic}}</ref> Other statements are self-evident because the statement is a proof for itself.{{Citation needed|date=October 2023}}.