Létalapelvek

Létalapelvek is a Hungarian term meaning fundamental principles of existence. In philosophy, it is used to denote the basic ontological propositions or axioms that underlie a theory of being and reality. The phrase is often employed to discuss what it means for something to exist, how entities relate to one another, and which assumptions must be accepted to sustain metaphysical inquiry.

Usage and scope vary across traditions. In many discussions, létalapelvek include familiar ontological commitments such as the principle of identity (a thing is itself), the principle of non-contradiction (a proposition cannot be true and false in the same respect at the same time), and principles related to causality, persistence, or dependence. Additional candidates may feature the principle of sufficient reason, the unity of being, or other conditions that ground explanation and classification. Different philosophical systems offer different lists, and there is no universally accepted set of axioms.

In Hungarian-language scholarship, the concept serves as a conceptual tool to frame debates about what exists, what it means for entities to be, and how existence is established or justified. It is used in metaphysics, ontology, and methodological discussions about the foundations of philosophical systems. Critics of fixed ontological axioms argue that such principles can be theory-laden or culturally contingent, and some approaches seek to reinterpret or replace traditional létalapelvek with alternative frameworks, such as phenomenology, pragmatism, or formal logic. See also ontology, metaphysics.