What type of reasoning involves drawing conclusions from general principles?

Deductive reasoning is the process of drawing conclusions that logically follow from premises or general principles. In this type of reasoning, one starts with a general statement or hypothesis and applies it to specific instances to reach a conclusion. For instance, if it is established that all humans are mortal (general principle), and if we know that Socrates is a human, we can deduce that Socrates is mortal (specific conclusion). This reasoning relies on the logical structure of the statements and requires that the premises be true for the conclusion to also be true.

Inductive reasoning, on the other hand, involves forming generalizations based on specific observations. It moves from specific instances to broader generalizations, which does not align with the concept of starting from general principles. Abductive reasoning involves forming the best possible explanation or hypothesis for a set of observations, which is more about inference and does not strictly follow the structure of moving from general principles to specific conclusions. Analytical reasoning generally refers to the logical assessment of information and problems but does not specifically involve the deduction from general principles. Therefore, the clear characteristic of deductive reasoning makes it the correct answer in this context.