Premise in Davao de Oro, Philippines
A premise is a statement that is assumed to be true and from which some other statement can be derived. In logic, a Premise is often one of the basic assumptions upon which an argument rests. Premises are typically either propositions (i.e., statements that can be either true or false, such as "All cats are animals") or first principles (i.e., self-evident truths, such as "A whole is greater than any of its parts"). The term "premise" can also be used more broadly to refer to any assumption upon which an argument or theory is based. For instance, the Premise of evolution by natural selection is that organisms have varying traits and that these traits confer different levels of fitness. The Premise of the Big Bang theory is that the universe began with a massive explosion. In each case, the Premise is an essential part of the argument or theory, and it must be accepted in order for the argument or theory to be considered sound.