Principles are both contextual and absolute. They are contextual because an individual must use his or her mind to discover how, if at all, a given principle applies to given situations. For instance, a principle of electricity tells us that two bodies of opposite charge attract one another. In some physical situations—particularly where the bodies are neutral in charge—the principle is inapplicable. (Note that these situations do not violate the principle, but merely lie beyond its scope.) Even when the bodies are opposite in charge, other countervailing forces may be present. Careful analysis of the total context and mathematical calculations are then required to determine the resulting motions of the two bodies.

Just as the "opposites attract" principle is inapplicable to bodies of neutral charge, the principle of honesty does not require that we should reveal the truth to a tree or a rock—or that a mother should reveal the location of her child to a would-be kidnapper, who has by his actions shown himself (like the rock) to be beyond the reach of truth. The honesty principle, like many others that we shall encounter in our study of ethics, praxeology, and politics, is not a mechanical rule that can substitute for thought. In order to act honestly or to follow most other useful principles, one must mentally integrate one's understanding of the principle with what is known about the particular context.