"fundamental principles"--cannot be ruled out.

The recognition of ethical maxims as, and translation of 'Avot' to, 'Fundamental Principles' may derive from the high regard in which the Torah, Mishnah, and Talmud hold such wisdom. "Love your neighbor as yourself," states the Bible , an injunction that Rabbi Akiva in Genesis Rabbah 24:7 famously calls a "great principle"