Literary notes about maxim (AI summary)
The term "maxim" in literature often refers to a guiding principle or aphorism that informs a character’s behavior or encapsulates a moral or philosophical doctrine. For instance, writers present maxims as the subjective principles that govern individual actions or societal norms, as seen in discussions of morality and volition in Kant’s works [1, 2, 3]. At the same time, maxims can serve as personal mottos that characters invoke to justify decisions or reflect on past experiences, such as when a character claims, “Every one for himself” or relies on the belief that “when you have excluded the impossible, whatever remains must be the truth” [4, 5]. They are deployed not only to illustrate personal philosophies but also to critique or underscore broader social or political viewpoints, as in analyses of military strategy or critiques of governmental policies [6, 7]. In this way, the word "maxim" enriches literary texts by connecting individual choices with universal truths, inviting readers to ponder the balance between personal conduct and shared ethical standards.
- * A maxim is the subjective principle of volition.
— from Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysic of Morals by Immanuel Kant - A maxim is a subjective principle of action, and must be distinguished from the objective principle, namely, practical law.
— from Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysic of Morals by Immanuel Kant - The formal principle of these maxims is: "So act as if thy maxim were to serve likewise as the universal law (of all rational beings)."
— from Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysic of Morals by Immanuel Kant - “Every one for himself,” he repeated—a maxim which had cheered him in the past, but which rang grimly enough among the ruins of Oniton.
— from Howards End by E. M. Forster - “It is an old maxim of mine that when you have excluded the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.
— from Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle - 333 gained, thus confirming the military maxim that a strategic mistake is more serious and far-reaching in its effects than an error in tactics.”
— from Paradise Lost by John Milton - If the nobility or the soldiery should ever adopt such a maxim, all would be lost beyond redemption.
— from The Social Contract & Discourses by Jean-Jacques Rousseau
