canon (basic principle)
{{Short description|Group of official, authentic or approved rules or laws}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}}
The term canon derives from the Greek {{Lang|GRC|κανών}} ({{Transliteration|GRC|kanon}}), meaning "rule", and thence via Latin and Old French into English.{{cite dictionary|title=Canon|publisher=Oxford English Dictionary}} The concept in English usage is very broad: in a general sense it refers to being one (adjectival) or a group (noun) of official, authentic or approved rules or laws, particularly ecclesiastical; or group of official, authentic, or approved literary or artistic works, such as the literature of a particular author, of a particular genre, or a particular group of religious scriptural texts;{{cite dictionary | entry-url=https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/canon | entry=Canon | dictionary=Collins English Dictionary | publisher=HarperCollins Publishers | location=Glasgow | year=2019}} or similarly, one or a body of rules, principles, or standards accepted as axiomatic and universally binding in a religion, or a field of study or art.{{cite dictionary |entry-url=http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/canon |entry=Canon |dictionary=Dictionary.reference.com |publisher=Dictionary.com, LL| date=2019 |access-date=7 April 2015}}
Examples
This principle of grouping has led to more specific uses of the word in different contexts, such as the Biblical canon (which a particular religious community regards as authoritative) and thence to literary canons (of a particular "body of literature in a particular language, or from a particular culture, period, genre").
W.C Sayers (1915–1916) established a system of canons of library classification.Sayers, W.C. (1915–1916). Canons of classification applied to "The subject", "The expansive", "The decimal" and "The Library of Congress" classifications: A study in bibliographical classification method. Lindon: Grafton.
S. R. Ranganathan developed a theory of facet analysis, which he presented as a detailed series of 46 canons, 13 postulates and 22 principles.{{cite journal |title=Prolegomena to library classification: A Simplified Model for Facet Analysis: Ranganathan 101 |last=Spiteri |first= Louise |date=1998 | journal= Canadian Journal of Information and Library Science |volume= 23 |issue=1–2 |pages=1–30 |url=http://archive.iainstitute.org/en/learn/research/a_simplified_model_for_facet_analysis.php}}
There is also the concept of the canons of rhetoric, including five key principles that, when grouped together, are the principles set for giving speeches.{{cite book|last1=Toye|first1=Richard| author-link = Richard Toye |title=Rhetoric A Very Short Introduction|date=2013|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford, United Kingdom|isbn=978-0-19-965136-8}}
See also
{{wiktionary|canon|canonical}}
- {{annotated link|Artistic canons of body proportions}}
- {{annotated link|Lysippos|Canon of Lysippos}}
- {{annotated link|Polykleitos|Canon of Polykleitos}}
- Axiom: a statement that is taken to be true, to serve as a starting point for further reasoning and arguments.
- {{annotated link|Canon (fiction)}}
- {{annotated link|Canon law}}
- {{annotated link|Canonical}}
- {{annotated link|Der Kanon|Der Kanon}}, chosen by Marcel Reich-Ranicki
- Norm (philosophy): concepts (sentences) of practical import, oriented to effecting an action
- Principle: rule that has to be followed or is an inevitable consequence of something, such as the laws observed in nature
- Rule of inference: in logic, a logical form consisting of a function which takes premises, analyzes their syntax, and returns a conclusion (or conclusions)
- Rhetoric: the art of persuasion. The five canons of rhetoric or phases of developing a persuasive speech were first codified in classical Rome: invention, arrangement, style, memory, and delivery.
- Western canon: the body of literature, music, philosophy, and works of art that is highly valued in Western culture