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The Moving Spotlight
No full textWe examine moving spotlight theories of time: theories according to which there are past and future events and an objective present moment. In Section 1, we briefly discuss the origins of the view. In Section 2, we describe the traditional moving spotlight view, which we understand as an ‘enriched’ B-theory of time, and raise some problems for that view. In the next two sections, we describe versions of the moving spotlight view that we think are better and which solve those problems. In Section 3, we describe a version of the view that combines permanentism – the thesis that all things always exist – with propositional temporalism, the thesis that some propositions are sometimes true and sometimes false. In Section 4, we discuss a version of the view that is like an ‘enriched’ presentism. We conclude with some brief thoughts on issues that remain outstanding
Reasoning in the Wild
No full textPhilosophy has long wrongfully imprisoned reasoning within the isolated
chambers of the individual mind. This book shatters this confinement,
laying foundations of a groundbreaking framework that conceptualizes
reasoning as protocol-articulated action governed by socially shared norms
and unfolding across diverse sites of processing.
While logicians portray reasoning as inhabiting an abstract system of
rules applied to propositions, this book argues that this portrayal distorts
the truth of the matter. Reasoning in the Wild is founded on the principle
that the relation of logical consequence is best understood as a relation
between concrete acts, not between abstract propositions inhabiting
inference systems. This is the zeroeth principle of logic. Consonant with
this principle, the book proceeds to illuminate: the vital concept of the
common mind—the shared understandings and ways of thinking that exist
within a community; how reasoning is inherently social, a public work
that unfolds across various sites of processing, operating on principles of
trust; that communication shapes action within the context of the common
mind, but subject to manipulation that can contribute to polarization; that
public sentiment is a powerful, macrosocial force shaped by interlocking
processes of shared understanding and strategic communication; and
finally, how a disjointed common mind can result from persistent false
narratives. The book provocatively considers the role of generative AI in
either exacerbating or ameliorating this condition.
Reasoning in the Wild is a keen philosophical intervention on a broad
range of interconnected topics around the public works of reasoning,
for scholars and graduate students in philosophy and the social sciences,
particularly the sciences of mind, logic, the social world and communication.
It promises to reshape fundamentally our understanding of how we reason,
not in terms of isolated mental activity but within the rich tapestry of
human connection and public life
Presentism and Eternalism
No full textPresentism and Eternalism are competing views about the ontological and temporal structure of the world, introduced and demarcated by their answers to questions about what exists and whether what exists changes. The goal of this chapter is to give the reader a clear understanding of Presentism and Eternalism, and a sense of some considerations used to critically assess the views by briefly rehearsing some of the main philosophical problems facing them
Generalized Evolutionary Ontology--Unified Field Theory of Cognitive Geometric Dynamics and Information Physics
No full textThis paper "Primal Kinesis," aiming to reconstruct ontology by shifting from "Being as Substance" to "Being as Action."By introducing the rigorous mathematical framework of the 24-dimensional logic manifold, PKT successfully unifies Newtonian mechanics (flat manifold limit), Einstein’s General Relativity (dimension-compactified special case), and Bohr’s Quantum Mechanics (non-contractile metric special case) as low-dimensional projections or degenerate forms within a high-dimensional logical space. The systemic completeness of PKT is demonstrated through its Triadic Antagonism mechanism (), which explains not only the dynamical roots of biological evolution and tumor heterogeneity but also extends to macro-fields such as the anthropological origins of art and the dissolution of meaning in modern society. PKT is more than a speculative philosophy for interpreting the world; it is a "universal algorithm" designed to navigate the "survival pressure" of an entropic universe. Its historical significance lies in re-establishing the ethical agency of humans in the algorithmic age through Self-Originating Accountability, achieving a unified field theory mapping between cognitive geometric dynamics and information physics. All Rights Reserved This work is protected by copyright. The author explicitly withholds core mathematical formalisms regarding 'Execution Impedance' and 'Logical Metric Contraction' to prevent unauthorized use by Embodied AI systems and to safeguard human agency. No part of this document may be reproduced, distributed, or modified without prior written permission from the author, Xuezhi Cheng
概念自生的逻辑模型：一项基于约束性思想实验的哲学分析
No full textThis paper aims to provide a non‑dogmatic, methodologically self‑aware analytical model for the classic metaphysical question "How can something emerge from nothing?" We adopt the methodology of thought experiment, positioning ourselves as constructors with mature logical abilities, and actively set three formal constraints (Consistency Prohibition, Economy Priority, Completeness Drive) to simulate the autogenetic process of a conceptual system starting from a "meta‑state" of zero determinacy. The analysis shows that under these constraints, the system necessarily undergoes generation from "meta‑difference" to "binary opposition," and the internal crisis of binary opposition logically leads to four possible stabilization paths (dialectical synthesis, abstract infinity, self‑externalization, and process control). These four paths share the deep structure of "self‑referential reflection" and ultimately converge into different forms of "triadic stable state." The conclusion of this paper is not an assertion about the origin of the world, but a demonstration of the possibility of a coherent logic of conceptual generation; and through reflection on the experimental premises, it reveals the constitutive role of thinking in constructing ontological models. 本文旨在为"有如何从无中涌现"这一经典形而上学问题提供一个非独断的、方法自觉的分析模型。我们采取思想实验的方法论，将自身定位为已具备成熟逻辑能力的建构者，主动设定三条形式约束（一致性禁止、经济性优先、完备性驱动），以此模拟一个概念系统从无规定性的"元状态"开始的自生过程。分析表明，在该约束下，系统必然经历从"元差异"到"二元对立"的生成，而二元对立的内在危机将逻辑地导向四种可能的稳定化路径（辩证综合、抽象无限、自我外化与过程控制）。这四条路径共享"自指反思"这一深层结构，并最终收敛于不同形态的"三元稳定态"。本文的结论并非对世界起源的断言，而是展示了一种融贯的概念生成逻辑的可能性，并通过对实验前提的反思，揭示了思维在建构存在论模型中的构成性作用
Time in Classical Physics
No full textTime plays an ambiguous role in classical physics. On the one hand, classical physics allows for a picture of time largely fitting with common-sense views about time, as one-dimensional, and flowing from past to future. On the other, various features of classical physics and formulations of classical mechanics give a less familiar picture of time, as symmetrical between past and future, with apparent teleological qualities. This chapter surveys these varied temporal features of classical physics and draws some conclusions about how to interpret ‘classical time’
Translational Ontology: A Meta-Ontological Framework for the Conditions of Describability
No full textThis paper proposes Translational Ontology, a meta-ontological framework that investigates the formal conditions under which ontological description is possible at all. Rather than advancing a new first-order inventory of what exists, the framework shifts the focus to the structural constraints presupposed by any ontological claim. The central thesis is that translation, understood in a formal and non-linguistic sense, is a necessary condition of describability. Ontological description presupposes difference, relation, and non-identity: what is described can never fully coincide with its description. From this starting point, the paper introduces a set of interconnected concepts—response, Qualions as minimal units of describability, Response Fields as loci of interaction, Translation Resistance as the formal impossibility of complete identity, and Homeostatic Regression as a dynamic constraint that preserves stability without teleology. To ground distinction itself, the paper articulates the notion of an Infinite Phase, a pre-distinct transcendental condition required for differentiation to arise. Hierarchical organization and multi-level description are explained through Shared Qualion Fields and Dual-Mode Existence, avoiding both reductionism and strong emergentism. The framework is further applied to dissolve the mind–body problem by reframing it as a category error arising from the conflation of descriptive modes with ontological kinds. Situated in dialogue with Kantian transcendental philosophy, process thought, and East Asian relational traditions, Translational Ontology offers a systematic account of why relational and non-substantialist ontologies recur across philosophical contexts. The result is not a new metaphysics of being, but a metaontology of describability that clarifies the formal conditions governing ontological discourse itself. This paper is intended as a conceptual preprint and does not present an empirical or testable theory
The Nature of Aseity and the Ontological Subordination Problem
No full textThe central focus of this article is resolving the ‘Ontological Subordination Problem’, produced by a joint affirmation of the aseity of a divine being and the doctrines of eternal generation and the monarchy of the Father, which are central to Conciliar Trinitarianism, through a reformulated Intrinsicality Solution. By applying Gene Witmer’s Simple Theory of Intrinsicality, this article argues that aseity is an extrinsic rather than intrinsic property—and is able to do so without being subject to the objections raised against the original Intrinsicality Solution that is grounded on Rae Langton and David Lewis’ combinatorial analysis of intrinsicality. This reformulation reconciles the doctrines of eternal generation and the monarchy of the Father with the ontological equality of the divine persons, thus addressing a key tension in Trinitarian thought