 Principles such as these, Reid says, form a system of morality, but only in a weak sense. They form a system only in the sense that we can organize them in such a way that facilitates “apprehension and memory.” In this respect, a system of morals, according to Reid, is not like a system of geometry “where the subsequent parts derive their evidence from the preceding” but “resembles more a system of botany … where the subsequent parts depend not for their evidence upon the preceding” (EAP V.ii: 281). So, while Reid admits that the last principle stated above is the “most comprehensive,” he does not claim that it is fundamental in the sense that it grounds the other moral principles. Rather, he holds that each of the principles of morality is self-evident, at least to those who have a sound understanding, a satisfactory moral education, and are not in the grip of self-interest or passion. These principles are self-evident, in part, because they are not amenable to direct argument or proof, for any such argument “will either take for granted the thing to be proved” or be “something not more evident” (EAP V.i: 361; for more discussion, see Cuneo 2004, 259 and Davis 2006, Ch. 6).